The Broken Heart Still Beats
by TwilightObsessed522
Summary: Bella was trying to cope with the loss of her mother and none of her friends or her father, were there for her when she needed them the most. One day, she meets a guy who will end up changing her entire life. These are Bella's memories of her life over the course of a few years. And what will happen in her future? BPOV only. ALL Human. Bella/James, Bella/Edward
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: This story will be in Bella's POV only. There will be no direct dialogue between characters until Chapter 13 because all chapters up to that point are Bella's memories of the past.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**. **

**The Broken Heart Still Beats**

**Chapter 1. Prologue**

My name is Isabella Marie Hunter. I am from Forks, Washington, but I currently live in Chicago, Illinois. I am currently 24 years old. I am a widow. My husband James was killed in a car accident 7 months ago. Together we have a wonderful 2 year old son, named Riley. He's the most important thing in my life.

My husband's death has had me thinking about a lot of things lately, especially Forks.

I haven't been back there since I left for Chicago. In fact, I have tried my hardest to forget everyone and everything there. It just hurts too much to remember everything I went through there after I started highschool.

There's just one problem that people face when they are trying to forget their past.

Eventually, that past comes back to bite you in the ass.

Hard.

I won't tell you about how my past has caught up to me right now because to understand the problem I am currently facing, you have to hear about the events that occurred in my past that eventually led up to this moment in time.

And so my story begins.


	2. The People of Forks

**Author's Note: This story will be in Bella's POV only. There will be no direct dialogue between characters until Chapter 13 because all chapters up to that point are Bella's memories of the past.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**. **

**Chapter 2. The People of Forks**

Forks, Washington is a very small town. It's the kind of place where everyone knows each other and their problems.

One of the most important people in Forks is my dad, Charlie, or Chief Swan as people like to call him. He's the Chief of Police here. There's not much to say about Charlie. He's about 6'1, has a medium build, short brown hair and eyes, and a mustache that looks like it came right out of a really bad porno from the 70's. Like me, he's very quiet and doesn't mind spending time by himself, which is a rare occurrance as either my mother or myself were always around.

One thing I always disliked about my dad, was he that he hated just about any kind of change. For example, after he came home from work, he'd sit down at the table and eat with my mom and I, and then he would grab a beer and sit in his recliner and turn on some sports until he fell asleep or went to bed. Every weekend, he would drive up to the reservation and spend his time fishing with his friends Billy Black and Harry Clearwater. Every week was basically the same with him.

Then there's my mom, Renee. I look nothing like her. While I take after my dad, my mom has light brown hair and blue eyes. She's also a little taller than me. If I had to describe my mother, I'd say that she's a free spirit and a bit of an airhead. Don't get me wrong, she's a great person and a loving mother, but she can be a bit nutty sometimes.

Some of the other people that live in Forks and are worth mentioning are the Cullens, the Hales, and the McCartys.

The Cullens consist of Dr. Carlisle Cullen, Esme Cullen, and their two teenagers Edward and Alice. Dr. Cullen is very handsome. He's has short blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He is also one of the kindest people I know. Esme Cullen is a wonderful, loving woman, with kind green eyes and long auburn hair. She's like another mother to me. Edward and Alice are twins, but you wouldn't know it to look at them. Alice is very short with jet black hair that she wears in a pixie cut, with blue eyes like her father. Edward is the complete opposite of her. He is tall, about 6'2, and has a slight build. He has this beautiful bronze colored hair that sticks up all over and his eyes are the color of emeralds.

The Hales are Mr. and Mrs. Hale, their daughter Rosalie Hale, and Rosalie's half-brother Jasper Whitlock. There's not much to say about Mr. and Mrs. Hale. They are very average looking, and I've never spent any time with them, so I have no idea what their personalities are like. Jasper came from Mrs. Hale's first marriage and is a year older than Rosalie. He is tall, has a very slight build, blue eyes, and curly, blonde hair that reaches just past his ears. He is very calm and laid back. He is also dating Alice Cullen. Rosalie looks like she walked out of some fashion magazine. She is about 5'10, 120 lbs., has straight blonde hair down to her waist, and icy blue eyes. Even though she is one of my best friend's, I can honestly say that she's a bitch. I love her anyways though. She is currently dating Emmett McCarty.

The McCarty's are just Mr. McCarty and his son Emmett. I have never seen Mr. McCarty due to his job, but I have certainly seen Emmett. It's kind of hard not to, seeing at though he's absolutely huge. He's about 6'4 and about 250 lbs of pure muscle. He's a bit of a goofball, but he's super sweet. He's like an older brother to me.

I thought of these people like family.

At least I did, until I need them more than anything and none of them were there for me.


	3. How It All Began

**Author's Note: This story will be in Bella's POV only. There will be no direct dialogue between characters until Chapter 13 because all chapters up to that point are Bella's memories of the past.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**. **

**Chapter 3. How It All Began**

Everything changed my freshman year of high school. Two weeks after school started, my mother committed suicide. She shot herself with the gun my dad kept at the house for protection. I was the one that found her when I came home from school. I'm not too sure what happened after that. I know that I must have called 911 because the next thing I knew, my dad was suddenly there holding me while I cried.

That was the first time I saw my father cry. The last time I saw him cry was at her funeral.

I think the hardest part about the whole situation was that she didn't leave a note explaining why she did it. She never gave any indication that something was wrong.

Her funeral was a few days later.

The service was nice. It seemed like the entire town showed up to mourn with us.

My dad took my mom's death very hard. He barely spoke two words to me during or after the funeral. My dad wouldn't even look in my direction. He basically made me feel like I didn't even exist anymore. He also began to drink a lot more. He would go to work as usual, then come home and drink until he passed out. It became his new routine. The only thing that really changed was that when he went on his fishing trips, he'd drink more than usual.

My friends missed my mom too. She used to make us all snacks and watch movies with us. She was basically like another mother to them, so they took her death pretty hard too.

Over the next few weeks after my mom's funeral, I began to notice that my friends were slowly beginning to drift away from me. I'm not sure what changed, or if something happened, but after awhile they began to ignore me altogether.

It hurt. I was in pain and still mourning the death of my mother, and my friend's abandoned me when I needed them more than anything.

I guess they just didn't care anymore.

I was now completely alone. I no longer had friends and my father was too busy getting drunk and ignoring me to care.

So I began to hike as a way to escape the hurt and pain I felt by being alone.

That was how I discovered the meadow. And how I met James.


	4. The Meadow

**Author's Note: This story will be in Bella's POV only. There will be no direct dialogue between characters until Chapter 13 because all chapters up to that point are Bella's memories of the past.**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, and favorited my story. This is my first attempt at a multi-chapter story. So, I hope you all enjoy it. :)**

**P.S.- I also changed chapters 2 and 3 a bit, so I suggest reading them again before this one. Also, I realized I forgot to put a warning for chapter 3 due to the mention of suicide. I apologize if it caused any triggers. **

**WARNING: This chapter will contain suicidal thoughts and attempted suicide.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**. **

**Chapter 4. The Meadow**

One day as I was taking a hike through the woods, I somehow found my way to a beautiful meadow. It was filled with all kinds of colorful wildflowers. I loved it.

It had been about a month after my friends left me when I found it. After that, I made it a point to go there whenever I had time, or just needed to get away from things.

Days flew by and my life hadn't gotten any better. Charlie was still drinking and ignoring my existance, and my so-called "friends" wouldn't have anything to do with me. It was getting harder and harder for me to deal with the constant loneliness.

I'm not sure what caused it, but I finally snapped. I couldn't take it anymore. It just hurt too much. I decided to skip school and after Charlie left for work, I went into his room and found the same revolver that my mother used to kill herself with. I opened it up and found that it still had a few bullets in the chamber.

I then wrote a quick note for Charlie and left it on my bed. It was the least I could do. I also wondered how long it would take him to find it.

Before I decided to change my mind, I left the house quickly and walked to the one place I was able to find peace since my life had changed so drastically.

The meadow.

When I reached it, I stood for a few minutes just looking at the gun in my hand and thinking about all the things I had lost within the last few months. When I was done, I said my silent goodbyes and raised the gun to my head.

Before I could pull the trigger, I heard a man's voice yell at me to stop.

I lowered the gun and turned around to face a man standing at the edge of the clearing.

As he began to walk towards me, I took a moment to take a look at him. He was about 6'1, 200 lbs, and had his blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. Once he was close enough, I noticed that his eyes were a deep blue color.

When he finally reached me, he grabbed the gun out of my hands. I don't know why, but I wasn't afraid of this strange man at all. In fact, I felt calm. Calmer than I had in a long time.

He asked me what my name was and I told him. Then he introduced himself.

His name was James Hunter.

**A/N: I know I left this on a bit of a cliffhanger, but hopefully, I'll get another chapter up tomorrow.**

**On another note, did anyone go see the new movie with Robert Pattinson in it called The Rover? I went on opening day and it was AWESOME! I think my favorite part was when he was singing along to Pretty Girl Rock by Keri Hilson. LOL.**

**That's it for now. See you tomorrow. :)**


	5. James Hunter

**Author's Note: This story will be in Bella's POV only. There will be no direct dialogue between characters until Chapter 13 because all chapters up to that point are Bella's memories of the past.**

**WARNING: This chapter will contain mentions of suicide.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**. **

**Chapter 5. James Hunter**

After James introduced himself to me, he suggested that we sit down. As soon as we sat down, he asked me why I was trying to kill myself. There was something about him that just made me want to tell him everything.

So I did.

When I was done, he pulled me to him and just held me while I cried. I kind of thought that it was odd that a complete stranger would do something so sweet, but the fact that someone had actually listened to me and showed me a little bit of affection and attention sort of pushed those thoughts out of my mind.

I had almost forgotten what it was like to interact with other people, not that I hadn't tried. It was nice.

A minute or two went by before he started telling me about himself. He was 23 years old, was born and raised in Chicago, was an only child, and both his parents were deceased.

When I asked him what he was doing in the middle of nowhere, he explained to me that he was staying in a cabin that he owned not too far from the meadow and decided to go for a hike and just ended up here.

James told me how he was on a vacation from work. He told me how he inherited his father's publishing company after he passed away and how he was now in charge of everything. After he told me that, I told him how I always thought that being an editor or a publisher would be the perfect job for me after high school and college, since I love to read so much.

When I think back to his response to that, I always smile. He told me that if I was ever in Chicago in a few years to look him up and he'd see what he could do for me.

I told him that his offer sounded like a good idea.

We must have lost track of just how long we had been talking because when I looked around, I noticed that it would be getting dark soon.

After we said our goodbyes, I told him he could visit me in the meadow anytime for as long as he was in Forks. He said that it sounded like a great idea and then he left.

I watched him as he walked away and then quickly made my way back to my house.

Neither of us realized at the time, just how much both of our paths crossing that day would change our lives.

**A/N: Since I'm writing this story without an outline, I will do my best to get at least one new chapter written and posted everyday. **

**Thanks for reading and follwing my story. I hope you all enjoy it. :)**


	6. Almost Normal

**Author's Note: This story will be in Bella's POV only. There will be no direct dialogue between characters until Chapter 13 because all chapters up to that point are Bella's memories of the past.**

**I'm sure some of you are wondering where Edward is. I just wanted to let you all know that he will be in the story, but not for a few more chapters.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 6. Almost Normal**

When I got back to my house, I noticed that Charlie's police cruiser was in the driveway already. I walked inside to find him sitting in his recliner and drinking beer while watching some kind of sport.

He never said anything to me, or even looked in my direction as I walked by.

I walked up the stairs to go to my room and when I approached my room, could still see that the note that I had left for Charlie was still sitting there completely untouched. I picked it up, ripped it to pieces, and threw them away.

I was completely exhausted, so I took a quick shower and went straight to bed.

The next day, I got up, got dressed, and went to school. It almost felt normal. After school was let out, I went straight to my meadow to work on my homework.

When I reached the meadow, I was pleasantly surprised to see that James was already there. We talked a lot while I finished my homework and got to know each other better. It was a lot of fun.

The next few weeks flew by the same way. School, meet at the meadow, talk, do homework, and talk some more. It seemed like everytime we did it, I felt myself feeling a bit happier.

James and I were becoming closer to one another too. Not in a romantic way though. The romance didn't happen until years later. At this point, we were both just very good friends.

I had even taken to hanging out at his cabin with him, when the weather prevented us from being in the meadow. It was great. We watched movies, played board games, and just hung out and talked. I always hated to leave though.

Whenever I was off school for a holiday or something, I would spend the entire day with James in his cabin or in the meadow.

Before I left to go home, I reminded James that I had an entire week off for some kind of break and that I planned on spending the entire time with him. He looked so happy when I told him that.

Little did I know that my week of fun would turn into a terrible diaster.

**A/N: I just wanted to thank everyone for reading, reviewing, following, and favoriting my story. **

**If you have any questions about my story just PM me. :)**


	7. Mistakes

**Author's Note: This story will be in Bella's POV only. There will be no direct dialogue between characters until Chapter 13 because all chapters up to that point are Bella's memories of the past.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 7. Mistakes**

The morning my that my week-long break from school started, I woke up, showered, ate, and packed a bunch of clothes and some toiletries into a duffel bag to take with me back to James' cabin. Then I grabbed my phone and left.

I was about halfway to the cabin when I realized that I forgot my phone charger back at my house. I decided not to go back and get it because the only person who had called me in months was James.

That would turn out to be my first mistake.

Since my dad was still busy getting drunk and ignoring my entire existance, I didn't think that he would even notice my absence, let alone try to call me.

I didn't know it at the time, but I was very wrong.

I had been at James' cabin for four days when everything changed. I had let the battery on my phone die since I wasn't expecting any calls, so I ended up forgetting all about it.

We had both been so busy just hanging out and having a good time, that neither one of us gave any thought about the consequences of our actions. We weren't having sex because we were strictly friends, so we didn't see anything wrong with me staying with him for a week. Unfortunately, we had forgotten another major issue.

Our ages.

Even though I was 15 and he was 23, we had never given any thought to any problems our friendship might cause because we both saw and thought of each other as equals. It also didn't help that I was very mature for my age. It just made it easier to forget that I was still a minor in the eyes of the law.

We didn't realize our mistakes until it was too late.

**A/N: I just wanted my readers to know that I MIGHT be posting another chapter later tonight.**

**Also, this totally unrelated to my story, but for my readers who are big fans of Robert Pattinson, if you haven't gone and seen his new movie The Rover, I suggest you go see it if it's in a theatre near you. It was really really good. His performance was so different from when he was in the Twilight movies. He better win some kind of award for it! It was phenominal! I will warn you though, that there is some graphic violence in it, (so if you're not a fan of blood, don't see it.)**

**See you later! :)**


	8. Abducted?

**Author's Note: This story will be in Bella's POV only. There will be no direct dialogue between characters until Chapter 13 because all chapters up to that point are Bella's memories of the past.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 8. Abducted?**

We were sitting on the sofa watching a movie, when there was a knock on the door. Neither one of us were expecting any visitors, so to be on the safe side, James told me to stay put while he went to answer it. I could see the door perfectly from where I was, and when he opened the door I was surprised to see two police officers standing on the other side.

I couldn't hear much of what was being said, but I could make out the words _girl_ and _missing_. But before I could say anything, the officers grabbed James, put him in handcuffs, told him his rights, and led him out of the cabin.

I tried to go after them, but all of a sudden my legs just gave out from underneath me and it became very difficult to breathe. Then everything went black.

The next thing I know, I'm waking up in a hospital bed. As soon as I opened my eyes, the memory of seeing James being taken away in handcuffs hit me. I must have panicked again because a moment later someone stuck a needle in my arm and everything went black again.

When I woke up the second time, I got the feeling I wasn't alone.

I was right.

I looked over to my left, and sitting in the chair next to my bed was the last person I ever expected to see.

My father.

He was sitting with his head in his hands, but he must have heard me wake up because he suddenly sat up and looked straight at me.

I was shocked when I saw his face. His eyes were red from crying and he looked like he hadn't slept in days. He looked like he was about to say something, but before he could, Dr. Cullen came into the room to check on me.

When I asked him what happened to me, he told me that I had had a severe panic attack at the cabin and passed out. I was then brought to the hospital to be checked out. Apparently, due to the abduction charge James is facing, the hospital had to perform a rape kit as a precaution. But that they didn't find anything because I was still a virgin. Once was satisfied with my results, he discharged me back into my father's care.

On the way home, I began to ask Charlie about what happened to James. He told me that James Hunter was arrested for abducting a minor. And that he was going to be serving some time in prison. I tried to explain to my dad, that James didn't abduct me, I went to him on my own because he was my friend, but my father wouldn't hear of it. He told me that it didn't matter, that what James did was still considered to be kidnapping because I was a minor.

Over the next few days, I kept trying to get him to see that James did nothing wrong, but my dad was in complete denial.

When my dad took me to the station to give a statement, I saw James for a few brief moments. I apologized to him and I told him I would do whatever I could to help him. He told me that he didn't blame me for any of this. And that he would be waiting for me after he got out of prison and after I graduated from high school. It was part of our plan.

Whenever I brought up the subject of James, Charlie would just mumble something about Stockholm Syndrome and therapy.

He thought it was a good idea for me to start seeing a therapist. So I went. For a little while anyways. She knew that I didn't have Stockholm Syndrome and tried to explain that to Charlie, but he wouldn't listen.

About a week after I started going back to school, I noticed that Charlie began to drink and ignore me again. Big shocker. Things at school didn't change, as my "friends" still kept their distance from me and ignore me. Although, I did see Edward glance my way a couple of times, but he didn't try to talk to me or anything.

I finally realized that I still had three more years of high school left to get through before I could see James again.

That was pretty much the only thing that kept me going and got me through the days.

**A/N: I will get another chapter posted tomorrow. :)**


	9. Moving Forward

**Author's Note: This story will be in Bella's POV only. There will be no direct dialogue between characters until Chapter 13 because all chapters up to that point are Bella's memories of the past.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 9. Moving Forward**

Up until graduation, things continued to stay the same for the most part.

I was still alone and ignored by everyone.

Well, _almost_ everyone. The only exceptions were James, Jacob Black, and Dr. Cullen. From the time he went to prison and up until he was released, James and I exchanged letters once a week. It still kind of amazes me that Charlie never found out that I had kept in contact with James while he was in prison.

I had also spoken to Dr. Cullen a couple of times due to my clumsiness getting the best of me a few times. He still treated me like a daughter and always gave me a small smile when he saw me. I wasn't too sure what to make of that though. I figured he was either a very good actor, or he was completely oblivious to the fact that I had essentially become a social outcast. I couldn't decide which was true.

As for Jacob Black, there had been a few occasions over the years when he had to drive my father home because he was too wasted to drive himself. When that happened, he'd greet me and chat a little, but he never tried to talk to me if he saw me outside of those rare instances.

During those last few years I was in highschool, aside from the anniversary of my mother's death, there wasn't a time where I felt more hurt and alone than I did on my birthdays and on holidays.

James was the only person to wish me a happy birthday each of those years. I don't know how he did it, but he somehow managed to have a small cupcake and a gift delivered to my house on those days too. My own father didn't even wish me a happy birthday or get me a gift. Even though I didn't expect him to do anything, it still hurt.

Holidays weren't much better. I'd get a call or a letter from James and then I would cook myself dinner while my father busied himself with getting wasted.

The week before I graduated highschool, I received an acceptance letter to the University of Chicago. I hadn't felt that excited in a long time. A few days after I wrote a letter to James telling him my good news, he sent me one asking me if I would like to stay with him while I went to college. I figured that by the time James was released from prison and done with his parole, I would be 18 and it would no longer be illegal for me to stay with him, so I accepted.

Two weeks after graduation, James was finally released from jail. But since he was going to be on parole for a few months, during that time he would be unable to leave the state. Because he didn't want to cause any more trouble for me, he decided to stay in a hotel in Port Angeles until he was done with it.

It was three long months before he was finished with his parole. During that time however, I turned 18.

The day I turned 18 was the day I started packing up all of my belongings to take with me to Chicago. Two days later, James helped me hire a moving crew to move my things across the country. They came by after Charlie had left for work the next morning and they had cleared everything I owned out of the house within a few hours. I did a quick walkthrough to make sure I didn't leave a single thing I owned behind, and then James and I headed to the airport to begin our journey to our future home.

I didn't even bother to try and tell Charlie or anyone else I knew that I would be leaving and moving across the country. Hell, as far as I knew, nobody else besides James and I knew that I had gotten accepted into college.

And that's the way I wanted it.

I didn't want anything to do with Forks or the people in it. I didn't want people to know where I was going to be, not that they would care anyways. I just wanted to put the past four years behind me and move forward.

With James.

**A/N: I hope you enjoy this chapter. I have also decided that there will eventually be some dialogue in this story, but it won't be until later in the story. Also, Edward will eventually be in the story later on, so hang in there!**

**Feel free to leave me a review if you want. This is the longest story I have ever attempted, so it would be nice to know what people think of it so far.**

**See you next time! :)**


	10. New Lives

**Author's Note: This story will be in Bella's POV only. There will be no direct dialogue between characters until Chapter 13 because all chapters up to that point are Bella's memories of the past.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 10. New Lives**

When we got to James' penthouse, I was surprised at how big it was. It had a main bedroom and 2 guest bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. The living room was very large and had one those gigantic windows took up the entire wall. You could see the city from there.

James was kind enough to let me have a room to myself. After I had unpacked my things and got them put away, James ordered a pizza for dinner.

It was almost like when we were back at the cabin. Both of us sitting around, eating pizza, and watching movies. I really missed it.

Since my classes at the University didn't start for another two weeks, James decided to take me on a tour of Chicago. During that first week, he took me to The Bean, The Field Museum, and the Shedd Aquarium. We had so much fun seeing things. My favorite ended up being The Field Museum. It was so facinating.

The second week before classes, James took me to his company and gave me a job as his secretary. I learned so many different things about running a company and publishing things during that time.

The time finally came for me to start my first year of classes. I would be taking courses so I could earn degrees in English and a degree in Business Managment.

That first year we lived together, our friendship began to grow into a relationship. Somewhere along the way, we had both developed feeling for each other. We fell deeply in love with each other. It was also around that time, that I stopped sleeping in my room and began sleeping in his bed with him.

My second year in college wasn't much different from the first. I went to my classes, went to work, and then went home. James and I went out from time to time, but we were both so busy that we didn't get to do it much. Our relationship was still going strong though.

My third year in college brought another life changing moment with it. On my 20th birthday, James took me out to a nice little restraunt and proposed to me to that.

I said YES.

We were enganged during my last year of college. When I finally graduated with both of my degrees, we went out with some our friends and celebrated.

I married James Hunter a week later. I would no longer be known as Isabella Marie Swan. From now on, I would be known as Isabella Marie Hunter. Our wedding was very small and private. Only close friends were allowed to attend. Our friends, Victoria Chase, Felix Volturi, Demetri Voda, and Carmen and Eleazar Sanchez, all attended our wedding.

Victoria and Felix are my friends from college. Victoria was studying to become an English teacher and Felix was getting a degree in business, so he could open his own gym. The others are our friends from work.

For our honeymoon, James took us to Italy. Everything there was so beautiful. To be honest, we didn't see too many of the sites because we hardly left our room due to the constant lovemaking going on. Everything was so perfect. Even though we wished that our time there wouldn't come to an end, it had to. We had to get back to both our jobs.

So we packed our belongings, drove to the airport, and boarded the plane.

And we went back home to Chicago to officially start our new life together as Mr. James and Mrs. Isabella Hunter.

**A/N: I know most people like to read stories with lemons in them, but since I have never written one before, there will be no lemons in this story.**

**If you have any questions about my story, feel free to PM me.**

**Thanks to all who have followed, favorited, and reviewed this story. **

**See you next time! :)**


	11. Baby

**Author's Note: This story will be in Bella's POV only. There will be no direct dialogue between characters until Chapter 13 because all chapters up to that point are Bella's memories of the past.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 11. Baby**

I had been married to James for almost a year. During that time, I had been promoted a few times at work, and am now Vice President of Hunter Publishing Co. Being the VP is a lot of work, but I also get to work right besides James more often which is a plus. This also allows us to see each other more during the day.

That same year, James and I got some very exciting news.

I was pregnant.

I don't think I had ever seen James so happy about something before, with the exception of our wedding day. He was really excited to become a dad.

He went to all of my doctor's appointments with me, turned one of the guest rooms into a nursury, he never complained when he had to go out at 3 a.m. to get whatever it was I was craving, and he rubbed my back and feet if they were sore.

He was absolutely wonderful to me and he would be a fantastic father.

A few months later, and Riley James Hunter was born. He was 8lbs 6oz and 20in. long.

He was a very healthy baby and didn't cry much. He slept pretty well for a newborn.

He sure had quite an appetite though. He got that from his father.

Months flew by and before we knew it, Riley was a year and a half and was trying to talk and crawl. The first word he said was "Da." The look on James' face when he heard that was priceless. Riley learned to say "Ma" not too long after.

By the time he was about a two years old, Riley was already up and walking and talking. As well as a baby could anyways. It was also around this age that Riley decided he like listening to his daddy's music.

While he worked, James liked to listen to rock music. The one song he seemed to play the most was _Icky Thump _by The White Stripes. I'm not sure why, but Riley just loves listening to that song too. If he wanted to hear it, he'd say "Icky".

James and I would joke and say that Riley was gonna end up being a handful.

We just talked and laughed about all the things we'd have to go through when Riley got older.

We didn't know that soon our lives would never be the same again.

**A/N: I know this chapter was a bit short, but it had to be that way.**

**Feel free to review!**

**See you next time! :)**


	12. Loss

**Author's Note: This story will be in Bella's POV only. In my previous notes, I mentioned that there would be no direct dialogue between characters, but I have changed my mind. There will be direct dialogue in the chapters **_**after**_** this one. That's because with the exception of the first chapter, all other previous chapters (including this one) have been about the past. It just makes more sense to have the characters talk to each other once we reach the present time because Bella will be **_**living**_** the events instead of remembering them.**

**This is also the last chapter that takes place in the past before we reach the present time when the Prologue takes place.**

**Also, I made a mistake in the prologue concerning Bella's current age. I said she was 27, but she is 24 when James dies, and when the Prologue happens, so I went back and fixed it.**

**I also wanted to give a shout out to my new FF friend Anam! Thank you so much reading this story. You were the very first person to leave me a review, so that means a lot to me. :)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 12. Loss**

The next day went by as usual. We woke up, took our showers, made breakfast, took care of Riley, dropped him off at preschool, and went to work.

James and I were very busy that day. James had meetings scheduled throughout the day, and I had tons of paperwork to fill out. By the time we left to pick up Riley and go home, we were completely exhausted. Once we got home, James decided to try and get some paperwork finished in his home office.

Even though I was very tired, I decided to make something nice for dinner. As I was getting ready to start, James came rushing out of his home office and told me that he needed to run back to the company office because he had forgotten some very important papers and that he would be back soon.

Before he left, he gave Riley and I a hug and a kiss and told us he loved us. He always did that before he went somewhere.

I never thought that it would be the last time we would see him alive.

By the time dinner was ready, James still wasn't home yet. I thought it was a little strange because we didn't live very far from the office and he should've been back by now. I figured that maybe he had gotten caught in a bit of traffic because even though it was late, Chicago always seems to have traffic no matter what time it is.

I waited a little longer before I tried calling and texting him to see what was taking him so long.

He never answered.

An hour later, dinner was completely cold and I was getting very worried. He was almost never late getting home if he had to run back to the office. So I continued to try and get in touch with him.

He still didn't answer.

I was really starting to freak out and I began imagining all of these horrible scenarios that could have happened when I heard a knock at the door.

I got a really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I hoped that it was James, and that maybe he knocked on the door because he had forgotten his keys, but when I opened the door, my worst fear was confirmed.

Standing on the other side of the threshold, were two police officers. One look at their faces told me everything. James wasn't coming home. Ever.

They asked if they could come in and speak with me about my husband. I sat down and broke into tears as they told me he had died.

They said that it appeared that he was on way home from the office, when his car was hit head on by a drunk driver. They told me that the paramedics on the scene had declared him DOA (dead on arrival).

One of the officers also told me that even though he had an ID on him, I would still have to go to the morgue and positively identify his body.

I think that was one of the worst parts of the whole situation.

I was pretty much in a daze for awhile after that. Victoria came over after the news of James' death spread and she helped look after Riley while I got in touch with our lawyer and took care of funeral arrangements.

His funeral was two days later. Since James didn't have any family left, the majority of the people that came to pay their respects were close friends and coworkers. A few clients showed up as well.

When the funeral was over, our lawyer Jason Jenks, read me James' will. James left everything he owned to me and Riley. He gave me complete ownership of the company and stated that if I didn't want it, it would be given to Riley when he turned 21. I loved the company, so I accepted ownership. He also left me the penthouse and his cabin in Forks. I was surprised to learn that he even bought the land in Forks that contained our meadow.

Riley would get eveything else as soon as he was old enough. James had even created a trust fund for him. The rest of James' money would be split evenly between the two of us, and because Riley was only two, his money would be put into a separate account that he would gain access to when he turned 21.

Things were hard for awhile after that. I missed James everyday, and even though he was too young to understand what happened, I could tell that Riley missed his dad too. And even though I was grieving, I never once treated him the way my father treated me when we lost my mom. I still don't understand how he could have done that to me. If anything, I wanted to be there for my son even more.

Victoria continued to help me out with Riley when I needed it. I found out rather quickly that running a company by yourself wasn't easy. I don't know how James managed to do it.

I certainly didn't think that becoming the owner of his company after he died would eventually cause me to come face to face with past.

**A/N: I did it. I killed off James. But it had to be done in order to force Bella to confront her past. You'll understand why in the next chapter.**

**So even though I killed James, at least I didn't make him a bad guy! ;)**

**Also, in the last chapter, I mentioned how James and Riley both love the song "Icky Thump" by The White Stripes. In the story, "Breakable, the Truth Hurts" by Soft Ragoo, Edward is totally obsessed with The White Stripes and mentions "Icky Thump" a lot. I had never heard it before I read that story, so I looked it up on Youtube and fell in love with this song, so I put it in my story.**

**Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you next time! :)**


	13. Facing The Past

**A/N: There will be dialogue in every chapter from now until the end.**

**I am also dedicating this chapter to my friend, Anam. You have been waiting a long time for Edward to appear. So now I am giving you Edward. :)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 13. Facing the Past**

**Present Time**

_**(7 Months after James Dies)**_

I had just walked into my office and sat down, when I looked at the time. I was being lazy, so instead of using the intercom on my desk, I just shouted out the door.

"Carmen!"

"Yes, Ms. Hunter?"

"What time is my next appointment?"

"Let me check...um..oh! It's at 12:30."

"Okay. I have a few reports to finish up, so just send them in when they get here."

"Okay."

About 15 minutes later, I still finishing up some paperwork, when I heard a loud knock on my office door.

"Come in", I yelled.

I was still paying attention to my work, but I could hear my client walking to my desk. All of a sudden, I heard him stop and gasp.

"Bella Swan? Is that really you?"

My head immediately snapped up and looked at the man standing directly in front of me. The first things I noticed about this man was his Bronze-colored hair and his emerald green eyes.

I was standing face to face with Edward Cullen.

We stared at each other for a minute before I realized I didn't give him an answer.

"It's actually Isabella Hunter now." I said. "What are you doing here?"

Edward looked down at the floor and said, "I have an appointment."

I sat back down at my desk and said, "Fine. Let's get to work then."

I asked him a bunch of questions about his job, the book he was writing, and the reason he was here today. After we did this, I started to look over his paperwork and made him fill out some forms. The entire time we were doing this, he had this look on his face, like he wanted to ask me something.

After a few minutes of this, I had had enough.

"What?" I asked sharply.

He sat there for a moment opening and closing his mouth as if he was unsure how to answer. He finally said, "Um..Can I..uh..ask you a few..um..questions?"

I don't think I had ever heard Edward sound so nervous about something before, so I asked him, "Why should I answer any of your questions? You abandoned me when I needed you."

"You're right. I did abandon you, and I've regretted it ever since. However, I know you probably won't believe me, but I didn't have a choice. I really want to fix things between us, and if you'll let me, I'll explain everything to you."

I thought about what he said and decided that I wanted to know why he and everyone else hurt me. I'd answer his questions, but in return, I expect him to tell me everything. "Fine. I'll answer your questions, but only if you explain to me how acting as if I didn't exist wasn't your fault." I said.

"It's a deal."

I sighed. "Fine. Let's get this over with. What do you want to know?" I asked.

"Um..why did you leave without telling anyone?"

I sighed, "I left because I was lonely and I had no one there in that town that cared about me anymore. And I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want people to be able to find me. I just wanted to forget everything about Forks."

He frowned and asked, "What about your dad?"

"What about him?"

"Don't you think that he would miss you or worry about where you could be?"

I took a deep breath before I said, "Honestly? No. I didn't think that he'd even notice I was gone. After all, he spent 3 years getting wasted and pretending I never existed. So no, I didn't think about that and I honestly don't give a shit whether or not he was worried about me." I sighed. "Can we get back to work now? After all, that is the reason you came here right?"

Edward sighed. "Yeah, we can get back to work. I still have more questions for you though, but I'll wait until next time to ask. Or maybe we could grab a cup of coffee and catch up a bit?"

I knew he would just keep asking me, so I said yes so I could get it over with quicker.

"There's a little coffee shop across the street. Meet me there at 2:00 and we can "catch up"."

He stood up and began to walk to the door. When he got there, he turned around and said, "I'll be there." And then he left.

I really hoped I wouldn't regret doing this.

**A/N: This chapter didn't turn out quite the way I wanted it to, but it still works.**

**Next up: The Coffee Shop interrogations.**

**See you next time! :)**


	14. Coffee and Questions

**A/N: Getting this chapter started was a pain in the butt. Why, you ask? Well, before I start writing a chapter, I have to write out my ideas otherwise I forget them. Seriously, one minute I get an idea and if I don't write it down right away, a minute later it's gone for good! I blame it on my ADD! LOL. Anyways, I was writing up a bunch of ideas and I had a few more to type up before I saved the document, when one of my cats thought it would be a good idea to walk across my laptop. You're probably wondering what is so bad about that. Well, the problem is that when she walked across it, she stepped on the power button and shut it down before I could save my ideas. By the time I had it started up again, I had completely forgotten what my ideas were. So, I had to start all over again. :P**

**I think I'm also going to keep giving shout outs to Anam because it makes her very happy. Also, she's left more reviews for this story than anyone else and for that, she is totally awesome!. ;P**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**. I own a cat that gave me writer's block. LOL**

**Chapter 14. Coffee and Questions**

Edward was already sitting at a table when I walked into the coffee shop. As I walked over to him, he stood up and went to give me a quick hug (I think it was out of habit because he used to do that when we were kids) but the look I gave him made him stop in his tracks. So instead, he walked over and pulled my chair out for me.

I sat down without thanking him. (I know it was rude, but I wasn't going to make things easy for him.)

As soon as he sat back down, I cut right to the chase. "You said you wanted to catch up and ask me some more questions, so let's get to it shall we? I have a lot of work to do and I would like to get it finished before I go home," I said curtly.

Before he could answer, one of the waitresses came over to get our orders. "Hello, welcome to The Coffee Studio. What can I get for you two?

Edward answered first. "I'll have a medium black coffee with no cream and no sugar." Then he looked at me and asked, "Bella, what would you like to have? It's my treat."

I looked back at the waitress and said, "I'll have a large vanilla cappuccino please."

She wrote our orders down and asked, "Is that all?"

We both answered at the same time. "Yes."

"Okay. I'll be back with your drinks in a few minutes," she said and walked away.

As we waited, Edward asked, "So, how have you been?"

"Fine."

"That's good. How long have you been in Chicago?"

"Six years."

He looked at me with a surprised look on his face. "You've been here the whole time?" he asked.

I gritted my teeth and said, "Yes. Why? Is that a problem?"

Just then, the waitress came back with our coffees. After she left, he said, "No, it's not a problem. It's just that earlier in your office, you said that you didn't want to be found."

"What's your point?"

He took a sip of his coffee and said, "It's just a lot easier to find someone if they stay in one place, that's all."

I took a a few sips before I answered, "Yeah well, I got accepted into the University of Chicago and I already had a place to stay here and a job already lined up." I took another sip. "It just made sense to stay here."

"Wow. How did you manage to find a place to stay and a job so quickly?"

I had to stop and think for a moment about how I would answer that. Finally, I just gave up and simply said, "James."

He gave me a confused look and asked me, "Who's James?"

Just thinking about James hurt. I could already feel some tears beginning to form, so I had to look away from Edward for a moment to collect myself before saying, "James Hunter."

Edward didn't say anything right away, but from the look in his eyes, I knew that he was trying to remember something.

Finally he said, "James Hunter. Why does that name sound so familiar? I swear I've heard that name before."

"That's probably because he was my husband," I said sarcastically. I took another drink from my cappuccino while he answered me.

"I know that! I meant that I've heard that name before. I just can't remember where." I knew that he would figure it out, but I wasn't going to help him do so. I didn't have to wait very long though. Just a moment later, he looked back up at me and said, "Wait a minute! Wasn't he the guy that kidnapped you in highschool?"

I glared at him before I answered. "For your information, James didn't kidnap me." I then spent the next few minutes explaining to him about what happened.

When I was finished, Edward looked at me skeptically and said, "That's what really happened? You're dad said-"

I cut him off. "My dad said what? That James was a bad man and I was defending him because I was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome? Edward, my dad was an alcoholic in severe denial. I don't know why he refused to believe me, but James wasn't a bad person. He was the only person that was there for me when I had no one else. He never once hurt me. If anything, I owe him my life."

Before he could ask me what I meant by that, I stood up and said, "I have to get back to the office to finish some work. You still have an appointment for tomorrow?" He nodded. "Fine, I'll see you then."

And then I walked out. Once I was back in my office and sitting down, I thought about the last thing I said to him.

I just knew he wasn't going to let that comment go, but there was nothing I could do about it tonight.

I'll just have to deal with it tomorrow.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed it. There will be another interrogation from Edward tomorow.**

**Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you Later! :)**


	15. Surprises

**A/N: I'm giving another shout out to Anam because she is just so awesome. ;)**

**IMPORTANT: I had this chapter posted earlier, but I decided that I didn't like who Edward blames for the past, so I changed it. (For people who haven't read this chapter yet, IGNORE THIS MESSAGE. It doesn't affect any previous chapters.)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers own **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 15. Surprises**

This morning has officially sucked.

First, I woke up late because I didn't get much sleep from worrying about the conversation I would be having with Edward, then as I was halfway to Riley's daycare center, I remembered that it was closed on Tuesdays which meant that I had to take him to work with me. Then when I got to the office, I spilled coffee all over myself. It was a good thing that I carried a spare change of clothes with me whenever I had Riley with me at work. And lastly, as I was trying to get a couple of copies made, the copy machine broke.

I had only been at the office for 20 minutes, and I was already stressed out. Then to make matters worse, I was basically being forced to listen to Icky Thump over and over again by my 2 year old.

Just when I thought I could relax for a moment, Carmen called me on the intercom to inform me that Edward Cullen was here and she was sending him in to see me.

As soon as he walked in, he stopped and said,"Are you listening to Icky Thump by The White Stripes?"

I sighed and told him, "Yes. My son Riley is absolutely obsessed with this song."

Edward smirked at me and began to walk towards me again only to stop when the realization of what I just said dawned on him. "You have a son?"

I walked over to Riley and picked him up. "Edward, meet my son Riley." I looked at Riley. "Riley this is Mr. Edward. Say hello." Riley turned away from Edward and hid his face in my neck.

"He's a bit shy with strangers," I explained. I put Riley back down to play and went back to my desk to sit. When I looked at Edward, he was still staring at Riley. "Edward?" He looked over at me.

"Yeah?"

"I know you still have some questions left over from yesterday, so why don't we get those taken care of before we get to work?" I offered.

"Right." He turned towards me and looked me right in the eyes and asked, "Why do you owe James your life?"

I took a deep breath before answering and looked away from his gaze. Very softly, I said, "I owe him my life because he stopped me from killing myself." I was expecting Edward to say something, but all I got was silence. When I looked back at him, all the color had drained from his face and his eyes were closed, no doubt trying to process what I had just told him.

His voice wavered slightly when he asked me, "You really tried to kill yourself? How? I mean, why would you do something like that!?" By the time he was finished talking, I noticed a few tears running down his face.

"Yes, I really tried to kill myself. I took the same gun my mom used and went to this meadow I found while I was hiking one day." My eyes were watering at the memory, but my voice stayed strong as I continued. "I was standing in the clearing with the gun pressed to my head and my finger on the trigger, but before I could pull it, James stepped into the clearing and yelled at me to stop." I was full on crying at this point, but I wasn't done yet. "He sat me down and talked to me and hugged me when I cried. He became my friend because he cared enough about a stranger to stop them from killing themselves. He was there when no else was."

I looked at Edward once again and saw a few different emotions cross his face. I saw sadness, regret, and anger. I didn't ask him about what he was feeling though. He didn't have to. Even though we hadn't been close for a long time, I still knew him well enough to know why he would feel those particular emotions.

He felt sad because it hurts to know that someone you cared about was once willing to end their life.

He felt regret because he ignored me like everyone else, and knew deep down in his heart that he was partially responsible for how I felt back then.

He felt anger towards himself for not being a better person and a better friend, but I also got the feeling that he was angry with someone else too. I just didn't know who.

Edward quickly stood up and began to pace back and forth while pulling at his hair. It was something he did when he was upset or frustrated.

It looked like he was both.

He also looked like he was struggling to keep himself together. So while I gave him a few minutes, I led Riley out of my office and walked him over to Carmen's desk.

"Hey Carmen? Can you watch Riley for a little while?"

Carmen looked at us and said, "Sure, no problem. Is everything okay?"

I glanced towards my office and then back to Carmen before lowering my voice so only she could hear me. "You know how Edward and I go way back?" She nodded. I had told her all about our history after I left work yesterday. "Well, I told him about how I first met James, and he kind of freaked out. I think he may be having a small meltdown."

"Is he going to be okay?" she asked, sounding concerned.

"I'm sure he'll be fine. He just needs a bit of time to calm down."

"And what about you?"

"What about me?" I asked.

"Are you okay? Do you want me to call Security, just in case he get out of hand?"

"Carmen, I'm fine. Really." I let out a deep breath and said, "And Security won't be necessary. I promise. Like I said, he just needs some time to cool off. I trust him."

Carmen just looked at me for a second before saying, "Okay, if you're sure. Would you like me to cancel the rest of your appointments for today and reschedule them?" I nodded at her.

"That would be great. Thanks."

Before I walked back to my office, I told Riley to be good for Carmen, and that I would come back for him in a little while.

When I got back to my office, I closed the door behind me and walked over to Edward. He had stopped pacing and was now sitting on the black leather sofa that was located in the center of the room.

As I sat down next to him, I asked, "Edward? Are you okay?" He stood up and started pacing again before he answered.

"Honestly, Bella?" I nodded. "No, I'm not okay. How can you honestly think that I would be okay after hearing that?" I didn't answer, so he continued, "Fuck! We never meant to hurt you, Bella, but we didn't have a choice back then because _they _made us. _They_ forced us to treat you like that. Knowing what I do now, I don't think I can ever forgive them for doing what they did, not just to you, but to all of us. We all suffered too." He sat back down next to me and put his head in his hands. "We were hurting too, but we had each other. You didn't have anyone else. Well, you had James, but we didn't know that. And it was all because of _them_."

I went from being worried to being completely confused in a matter of minutes. I had no idea what he was talking about, so I did what any normal person would do.

I asked him.

"Edward, what are going on about? Who forced you all to treat me so horribly?"

When he looked at me, he was crying again and the look on his face was pure agony, and it made my heart hurt.

The words that came out of his mouth next shocked me.

"It was our parents."

**A/N: Wow. I bet you didn't see that one coming! As much as I hate to leave my readers hanging like that, I had to. It's a writer's job to keep you wanting more. ;)**

**I would really like to know what you think of this chapter, so feel free to leave a review if you want.**

**And I promise that everything will be further explained in the next chapter in case you didn't understand what happened.**

**Also, I just had to mention one of my favorite songs again in this chapter. It's called Icky Thump by The White Stripes. I put the youtube link for the music video on my profile.**

**Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following my story. **

**See you next time! :)**


	16. Explanations

**A/N: It took me awhile to get his chapter started because my seasonal allergies decided to make an appearance late last night and I don't feel to great right now, but even though I'm not feeling well, I wanted to get his chapter done for all of you. :)**

**Anam, I hope this clears things up a bit for you. ;)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers own **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 16. Explanations**

I sat there stunned for a few moments while I let Edward's answer sink in. When I found my voice again, I said, "Wait, you're telling me that _your parents _are to blame for how all of you treated me back then?" My voice was beginning to rise. "That they _forced_ all of you to completely turn your backs on me?"

"Yes," he whispered.

I got up and walked a few steps away from him before turning around and glaring at him. It must have been some look because I saw him flinch a little.

"I can't believe that you're blaming your guys' parents for how you all acted!" I shouted. "How is that even _possible_?"

Edward let out a deep breath before getting up and walking over to me. "Bella," he said softly. "The reason we treated you like that, was because our parent's were threatening to take everything we had away from us. Our phones, cars, even our college funds and trust funds."

Before he continued, he led us back over to the sofa and took both of my hands in his. He looked into my eyes and said,"We knew it wasn't right to do what we did, but we were scared." He paused for a second before continuing, "Look, I'm not trying to offend you by saying this, but you have _no idea _what it's like to come from a wealthy family."

"Then explain it to me _Edward_," I said sarcastically. "What's it like to come from a _wealthy _family?" I spat.

He turned his head away and looked down at his lap. "Fine!" he huffed. "You want to know what it was like for us growing up? It was like this: We were spoiled okay? We didn't know what it was like to not be able to afford something, or what it was like to have to work for anything. Whatever we wanted was basically just handed to us." When he looked back up, he had tears in his eyes again.

He continued, "Back then, our lives were easy and we didn't want that to change. So, when our parents first told us to stay away from you after your mom died, we ignored them, so they forced us to make a choice: continue to associate with you or lose everything. I admit, it was selfish of us and we knew it would you hurt you, but we liked how easy everything was for us. We were also relying on our college funds and trust funds because without them, we would just wind up being stuck in Forks not going anywhere with our lives, and we didn't want that. We wanted to do more with our lives without having to work for it, so we hurt you."

I suddenly found myself wrapped in a pair of warm arms. "I'm so sorry, Bella. I'm sorry for everything we put you through," he cried. "I know we don't deserve it, but can you ever forgive us?"

He let go of me and looked at me with a shimmer of hope in his eyes.

"I'm going to be honest with you Edward, I'm not ready to forgive all of you just yet, but I think that with time, maybe I could. And I guess I can understand why you all did what you did-" He gave me a small smile, but it quickly faded when I added, "But, that doesn't explain why your parents wanted you guys to stay away from me in the first place."

He sighed. "You have to understand that wealthy people generally think about three things: their reputations, money, and their families. They didn't want to have their reputations damaged by being associated with someone whose mother committed suicide. And before you ask, I have no idea why they would think that in the first place."

"And all of your parents were in on it?" I asked

"As far as I know. Why?" he replied.

"Because your dad didn't treat me any differently from the way he did before my mom died when I saw him at the hospital back then."

He looked at me shocked. "You were in the hospital? Why?"

"I'm a klutz, Edward. Remember?"

He chuckled, "Yeah, I forgot about that." He glanced at his watch and said, "Well, I better get going. It's getting late."

"Yeah, I have to take Riley home and get him into bed or he'll be crabby all day tomorrow."

Edward got up and started walking towards the door, but stopped before he reached it. "Hey Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really glad I got to explain things to you. I feel a little better now that you know."

"I know what you mean. Thank you for taking the time to tell me."

"Anytime, Bella. I'll see you soon." And then he left.

"Bye."

I gathered my things together, got Riley from Carmen, and went home.

Before I went to sleep that night, I thought about how I couldn't wait until I saw Edward again.

**A/N: So, Edward explained everything to Bella. In case you didn't understand, The gang's parents threatened to cut them off from everything if they didn't stop hanging out with Bella because they didn't want their reputations to get ruined by associating with someone who's mother killed herself.**

**I know it's not my best work, but I'm going to blame it on my allergy medication. LOL**

**See you next time! :)**


	17. Closer

**A/N: I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get a chapter up today because I was really sick last night, but I'm better, so you're all in luck!**

**I also want to thank Anam for her get well wishes. It made me feel a little better. :)**

**Thanks for all of your reviews for the last chapter.**

**Also, things will be happening a bit fast in this chapter, but remember: My story, My rules. Besides, it kind of fits with the rest of my story so far.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers own **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 17. Closer**

_**3 Months Later (Early December)**_

The last couple of months have been interesting since Edward's confession. A month after that happened, I had forgiven him and we had become good friends again. We started spending a lot of time with each other outside of work just hanging out. We would either grab some dinner together, or we would go back to his apartment and have drinks and watch tv. Since Edward's apartment was filled with expensive things, it wasn't very kid friendly, so I often had Victoria watch Riley during those times.

But I had started to miss spending more time with Riley, so Edward suggested that we hang out at my place instead. It was a great idea, so that's exactly what we did. Edward would come over a few times a week, and I would make dinner for all of us, since Edward doesn't know how to cook.

Once Riley had gotten over his shyness around Edward, the two of them got along great. While I made dinner, he'd play with Riley or watch tv with him. It was sweet. I could tell that Riley missed having a man around the house. Edward didn't have a whole lot of experience with kids, so having him over more often was good for the both of them.

Sometime during the last two months, Edward and I got much closer and decided to enter into a serious relationship. I know it happened a bit fast, but it had been 10 months since I had lost James. I will always love him, but it was time to start moving on, and I had begun to really care for Edward.

Halloween and Thanksgiving had passed and it would soon be time for Christmas. Edward and I were sitting on the sofa in my living room watching a movie with Riley. By the time the movie had finished, Riley had fallen asleep, so Edward had offered to carry him to bed and tuck him in.

When he came back, we decided to watch another movie. Halfway through it, Edward suddenly asked, "Do you have any plans for Christmas?"

I looked at him with a look of surprise. "Um, I don't think so, I mean, I'm not sure. This year is going to be hard for Riley and I because it'll be our first Christmas without James." I began to cry and said, "I have no idea what I'm gonna do this year. Why do you ask?"

Edward held me until I calmed down and said, "I asked because I want you and Riley to spend Christmas with me. I know you two have been through a lot, and I don't want you to be alone for Christmas. I know it won't be the same because I'm not James, but I just want to you to know that I'm here for you."

"That's a wonderful offer Edward, but you're apartment isn't exactly the best place to hold a Christmas for child. Riley gets really excited around presents and there would be a good chance that something expensive of yours would end up broken."

He got a really guilty look on his face and began to run his fingers through his hair. "Um...actually, I usually spend Christmas in...Forks."

I jumped up from the sofa. "FORKS!" I shouted. "You want me and Riley to go to FORKS? Are you crazy?"

"Quiet down, you'll wake up Riley." said Edward.

"Edward, I haven't been to Forks in six years. What makes you think I would want to go back now?"

"Well," he began. "First of all, I think you should try to fix things with your dad. He truly does miss you and I think that he should know that he has a grandchild. Secondly, Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, and Alice will be there too, so it will give them a chance to apologize to you for the way they acted. And lastly, it will give you the opportunity to confront all of our parents, so you can finally put the past behind you."

I stared at him for moment before sighing. "I don't know Edward. I'm not sure if I'm ready for that yet."

"What about James? Wouldn't he want you to face your past so you can truly be happy?"

I glared at him. "That's not fair, Edward. Don't use James against me like that." I took a deep breath and continued, "But you're right about all of it and James _would_ want me to be happy."

It took a few minutes for me to come up with an answer.

"Fine. We'll do it."

Edward got a huge smile on his face. "Really?"

"Yes," I said. "Riley and I will go with you and spend Christmas in Forks."

**A/N: So, Bella and Riley are gonna spend Christmas in Forks with Edward. I think things are about to become very interesting. :)**

**Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you Later! :)**


	18. Back to Forks

**A/N: There isn't a whole lot of drama in this chapter. It's basically a description of the journey back to Forks. Things will start to get good in the next chapter.**

**I just wanted to thank everyone who has left me reviews. I really appreciate them.**

**I also wanted to give a big thank you to Anam. I love your feedback and I'm glad you're not afraid to ask me questions about things. Plus, I really like chatting with you. ;)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 18. Back to Forks**

_**(4 days before Christmas)**_

After I had agreed to take Riley and go back to Forks to spend Christmas with Edward, he and I discussed that it would be best to get there a few days early. We figured it would be better that way so Riley could have some time to get used to being somewhere new and so I could prepare myself for what was to come. We had also decided that once we got to Forks, we would be staying in the cabin that James had left to me. Since this was going to be our first Christmas without James, I felt that staying there would make things a little easier for me and Riley. As for everything else, we would figure out what to do once we got there.

Two weeks later, we gathered our things together and headed to the airport.

Once we had boarded the plane, I began to worry about how Riley would react because he had never been on a plane before. Turns out, I had nothing to worry about. He fell asleep almost as soon as we sat down in our seats. I was fine at first, but once the plane took off, I began to get really nervous.

Edward noticed and said gently, "Hey, look at me. Everything will be okay. We'll all get through this together. Okay?" I nodded at him. "Good. Just try to relax and just remember that I'm here for you and Riley no matter what happens. I mean it."

I gave him a small smile and said, "Okay. I'll try to relax, but I'm not promising anything." I grabbed his hand and said softly, "And I know that you're here for us, and even though I miss James, I'm really glad that we have you in our lives."

He kissed me and said, "Me too."

We both leaned our heads back and tried to relax. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I know, we're landing in Seattle. Riley was still fast asleep, so I picked him up and carried him off the plane and followed Edward until we reached the area where our luggage was being held. Once we got our things, we headed outside to the parking lot to find the rental vehicle we had requested.

After we had our bags loaded into the back of the SUV and Riley was strapped into his carseat, Edward and I both got in.

I had decided to let Edward drive halfway there because I knew that I would be nervous for a little while and I didn't feel comfortable driving like that. Before he started the vehicle, he turned to look at me and asked, "Are you ready?"

I sighed in defeat and said, "No, but it's too late to back out now, so we might as well get started."

"Okay." he said, and turned the vehicle on and pulled out of the parking lot.

Two and a half hours later, we stopped in Port Angeles to fill up on gas and to switch places. Since Edward didn't know how to get to the cabin in Forks, we thought it would be a good idea for me to drive the rest of the way.

One hour later, we were pulling up to the cabin on the outskirts of Forks.

Riley had woken up after we had left Port Angeles and since I didn't know what the inside of the cabin looked like, I didn't want to leave him alone, so Edward offered to get our bags while I made sure there was nothing breakable lying around.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I walked inside, but I certainly didn't expect this. What I saw brought tears to my eyes. The cabin looked almost exactly the same as the day James was arrested, only cleaner. He must have had someone come in and clean up the mess we had made that night, and it was obvious that it was being cleaned on a regular basis because there wasn't a speck of dust in sight.

Edward and I got our things put away and while I made us all dinner with the food we had brought with us, he sat down with Riley and watched some tv. Because we had been traveling all day, after we had all finished eating, we got Riley settled into bed and then got ready for bed ourselves.

Edward was out almost as soon as his head hit the pillow, but it took me a bit longer to fall asleep. I was going to need every bit of rest I could get.

Because tomorrow, I was going to face my father for the first time in 6 years.

And he didn't even know it.

**A/N: Well? What did you think? I hope I did an okay job with this chapter. I've never been on a plane or been to an airport, so I had to use my imagination with that part.**

**Also, I'm not sure when I'm going to get the next chapter posted. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow because my allergies have gotten worse, but I will try to have the next chapter posted for you.**

**Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and follwing.**

**See you soon! :)**


	19. Charlie

**A/N: I told you the good stuff would start in this chapter, so here it is.**

**Anam, you are awesome. Thank you so much for loving my story. ;)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight.**_

**Chapter 19. Charlie**

_**(3 Days before Christmas)**_

As I woke up this morning, the realization of what I was going to do today finally hit me.

I was going to see my father.

I should have been nervous about the whole thing, but I wasn't. Maybe it was because I've always felt a sense of calm when I'm in the cabin, or maybe it's because I know that Edward will always be here for us.

After I had taken a shower and gotten dressed, I walked into the kitchen to make us all breakfast. I decided to make pancakes, scrambled eggs, and toast. As soon as I had the food on the table, Edward and Riley woke up and came and sat down at the table. Once we were done eating and the dishes were washed, Riley ran off to his room to play for a bit while Edward and I sat down and talked.

Edward started first. "So, what's the plan for today?"

"Actually, I was thinking that you and Riley could drop me off at Charlie's house and then go out and do something for a bit. I really need to do this alone, but if I need you, I promise to call you right away."

"Are you sure that's what you want to do?"

I turned towards him and nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure."

He grinned and said, "Well, if that's what your gonna do, then that's okay with me." He leaned over and kissed me. "Just remember, I'm always here for you." Then he stood up and went and got Riley and helped him put his coat and shoes on before taking him outside and getting him settled in his carseat.

I was already dressed and ready to go, so I grabbed my purse and walked out to the car. I got in while I waited for Edward to run back inside to get his jacket. As soon as he got in, we were on our way to Charlie's.

Edward dropped me off at the end of the driveway and waited until I reached the door before taking off with Riley. I hope they are going to have fun because I'm certainly not going to have any.

I stood on the porch for a minute before knocking on the door a few times. A few moments later, I heard heavy footsteps approaching the door.

The door swung open and I suddenly found myself face to face with my father for the first time in six years.

He didn't recognize me at first because he asked, "Can I help you?"

"Hello, Charlie." I said, quietly.

He stared at me for a few seconds before he realized who I was.

"B-Bella?" he managed to stutter out. "Is-is it really you?"

I nodded. "Can I come in?" I asked. That seemed to bring him back to his senses and he stepped aside to let me pass.

"Um, sure. Uh, why don't we go into the kitchen to talk?"

"Fine." I said, curtly. He looked slightly hurt at the toned I used, but he didn't say anything about it. As he led me past the living room towards the kitchen, I looked around and noticed how nothing seemed to have changed.

Once we reached the kitchen, Charlie asked, "Um, do you want anything to drink, or something to eat?"

I sat down at the table and said, "No thanks."

He walked over to fridge and I was expecting him to pull out a beer for himself, but to my surprise, he grabbed a bottle of water.

"What, are you out of beer or something?" I asked sarcastically.

He walked over to the table and sat down across from me. He looked down at the table and said, "Um, no. I, uh, don't keep any kind of alcohol in or around the house." He lifted his gaze back to me and said, "I've been completely sober for nearly six years now."

"Oh." I said. We were both quiet for a few minutes. I took that time to take a good look at him. He looked like he had aged a lot in the last six years. His hair had bits of gray in it and there were shadows underneath his eyes, but other than that, he looked the same.

Charlie was the first one to break the silence. "How have you been?"

"Honestly?" I asked. "I've been better."

I could tell that my short answers were starting to annoy him, which I thought was slightly amusing, seeing as though he wasn't much of a talker himself. I didn't plan on making this reunion easy on him, so to annoy him further, I began to tap my fingers on the table.

Charlie looked at my hands and a look of sadness crossed his face when he noticed my wedding ring. "You're married?" he asked.

"I was." I answered quietly.

"What do you mean _was_? Are you divorced?" he questioned.

"No. My husband was killed by a drunk driver nearly 10 months ago." I explained.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I know I have no right to ask this, but was he good to you?"

I knew that my husband's identity would eventually come up, and since I kind of wanted to piss off my father for all the hurt he caused me, I told him.

"He was extremely good to me. James Hunter was one of the best people I know. He took very good care of me. He always made sure that we were happy. We loved each other very much."

The look on my father's face when I told him that changed from sadness to anger in a matter of seconds. He stood up and shouted, "James Hunter? As in the James Hunter that I had arrested for kidnapping you years ago?"

"Yes, and for your information, he didn't kidnap me. I was staying with him for a week while I had a break from school because he was my only friend at the time." I said loudly.

"Your _friend_?" he asked in disbelief. "Bella, he was nearly 8 years older than you. He was a pervert."

I wouldn't let him speak about James like that. "He wasn't a pervert! He was a good man. James was the only person who cared about me back then. I didn't have anyone else. My friends had abandoned me and you were too busy getting drunk and ignoring me." I looked away from him and said quietly, "You owe him. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now because I'd be dead!"

Charlie looked confused. "What are you talking about? What do you mean you would be dead?"

I stayed quiet.

"Answer me!" shouted Charlie.

"I was going to kill myself." I whispered. "I took the same gun that mom used and I went to a clearing in the woods that I liked to go to. I had the gun to my head, and I was about to pull the trigger, when James stepped into the clearing and stopped me." I took a deep breath and continued, "He didn't even know me at the time, but he showed me more concern and compassion than anyone that _did _know me."

We both sat back down. "I don't even know what to say to that, Bella." He had tears in his eyes when I looked over at him. We remained quiet for about five minutes, before he said, "What else should I know about?"

"I've been in Chicago this whole time."

"Chicago?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's where James was from. That's not the only reason I went there though. I got accepted into the University of Chicago and James gave me a place to stay and a job at his company."

"What else?"

"I'm rich." I stated.

"What?"

"I'm rich." I repeated. "Like, really, really rich. I'm talking about millions of dollars kind of rich."

He looked perplexed. "I don't want to offend you, but how did you manage that?"

So I explained, "James inherited his father's publishing company and when James died, he left it to me."

"Got anything else to tell me?"

"Two more things, actually." I replied.

"What's the first thing?" asked Charlie.

"I have a son."

It was Charlie's turn to take a deep breath. "You have a son?"

"Yeah, his name is Riley James Hunter and he's 2 years old."

Tears began to form in his eyes again when he asked me, "Can I meet him?"

I nodded. I had thought about this before I came here, and I decided that if things went well here, that I would bring Riley over the next day to meet his grandfather.

"I can bring him over tomorrow if you're not busy."

"I'm off of work tomorrow. I usually go to Billy's on Saturdays. I'll just tell him that something came up." he said. "What's the second thing you have to tell me?"

I got straight to the point and said, "I'm dating Edward Cullen."

"How long has that been going on?"

"Not long." I wasn't going to tell him about what Edward and the rest of our friends did to me back in highschool because it didn't concern him, and there was nothing he could do about it anyways. "He showed up in my office a few months ago with an appointment. We started hanging out again and realized we had feelings for each other."

"How is he with Riley?"

"Edward is wonderful with Riley. They both get along great with one another. Riley looks up to him and Edward treats him like a son."

"I'm glad. I'd have to get out my shotgun if he didn't treat you two right." he joked.

That made me smile. "Me too."

It was getting late, so I called Edward and told him to come and get me. When Edward pulled into the driveway, Charlie and I said our goodbyes and I told him that I would be back tomorrow, so he could meet Riley.

As I walked out the door, I smiled to myself because I knew things between my father and I would be okay.

**A/N: So, what did you think of this chapter? **

**Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you soon! :)**


	20. Bonding

**A/N: This chapter is just kind of a filler. Charlie will meet Riley in the next chapter.**

**Happy Birthday Anam!**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 20. Bonding**

After I had gotten in to the vehicle, Edward asked me how everything had gone with Charlie.

"It was tough. Things started out kind of awkward and then got a bit heated. After I had explained some things, I think Charlie finally realized how bad things really were for me and how wrong his actions were. He even stopped drinking and has been sober for six years."

"Good for him." He paused. "Did you tell him about me?" asked Edward.

I sighed and said, "I told him that we were together, but I didn't tell him about what happened with you and the others. I didn't think he needed to know about that."

"Good. And I think you were right to not involve him with that issue. There's not much he could do about it anyway." he said evenly.

I got the feeling that something was bothering him, but I would ask him about it once we got back to the cabin. Instead, I decided to change the subject. "So, what did you two do today? Riley is completely passed out in the back. You guys must have had fun."

Edward didn't look at me when he answered. "We went to Port Angeles and saw a kid's movie and then we spent the rest of the time playing games at the mall."

"That's good. I'm glad you two got to spend some time bonding." I said happily.

I couldn't see his face very well since it was dark, but his voice sounded slightly off when he answered.

"Yeah. Me too."

We were both quiet the rest of the way to the cabin. Once we got there, he immediately went inside without saying a word. He didn't even offer to carry Riley inside. Something was definitely going on with him and I had no idea what it could be.

I had every intention to find out though.

After I had gotten Riley inside, I fed him, washed him, and changed him before putting him to bed. I walked into the bedroom Edward and I shared and saw him lying on the bed. I thought he was sleeping at first, but then I noticed that his eyes were open. He looked like he was deep in thought.

I didn't say anything to him at first. I just changed into my pajamas and sat down on the bed next to him. Then I spoke up.

"What's going on with you? You seemed fine this morning, but you've been acting off since you picked me up." I stated.

I didn't want to upset him further, so I just waited for him to answer me. I had no idea what he was feeling because his face showed no emotion at all.

A full minute had passed and he still hadn't answered my question, so I sighed and huffed to show my annoyance.

Suddenly, he said with worried voice, "He called me Daddy."

"What?" I asked. I was unsure if I had heard him correctly.

Edward sighed. "I said, he called me Daddy. Riley and I were at the movie theatre and I was showing him the posters for the kids movies. When he found one he wanted to see, he pointed at it and said, 'Daddy, I want to see that one.'" He looked over at me to check my reaction. "Bella, it was the first time he ever called me that," he said worriedly. "I was shocked, so I didn't say anything to him about it. I mean, what could I have told him? He's just two years old."

I felt tears roll down my cheeks. I wasn't angry with Edward. I didn't really know what to feel. I was definitely sad because it made me miss James, but I was also kind of happy to know that Riley loved Edward enough to call him that.

"Edward, I'm not angry with you." I said softly. "But before things can get out of hand, I need to know what you're feeling about the situation. Is this something that you want? I know you said that you would always be there for us, and if that's the case, I don't see a problem with Riley calling you that."

"Thank you for not being angry with me. And it is definitely something I want, I just wasn't expecting it. I love Riley as if he were my own, so as long as you're okay with it, so am I."

"I just said I was okay with it."

He smiled at me and said, "Good. I just don't want you to think that I was trying to replace James."

"Edward, I would never think that. Riley will grow up knowing all about James, I'll make sure of it. But he will also grow up knowing that you're his father too. You may not be related through blood, but you've basically been his dad for a little while now."

Edward leaned over and kissed me before saying, "Thank you for everything, Bella. I love you and Riley more than anything. One day, we'll make everything official. It may not happen tomorrow, or a year from now, but one day I will marry you, and then we'll really be a family."

"We already are a family, Edward."

"You know what I mean. Now let's get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow." he replied.

"I wonder how Riley and Charlie will get along." I said.

"I'm sure they'll get along just fine. Now go to sleep. I love you."

"I love you too, Edward. Goodnight." And then we drifted off to sleep.

**A/N: I'd like to know what you think of this chapter.**

**Thank you for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you soon! ;)**


	21. Old and New Faces

**A/N: I'm angry. FF decided to remove my song-fic Bedroom Dancing because I added the lyrics for the song at the end of my story, so people could see how they relate to the story. Apparently, the lyrics were not found in the "public domain." How could I have known that, if FF doesn't even explain what the "public domain" is in the guidelines? Maybe if the guidelines were more specific, this wouldn't have been an issue. Oh well. Once I am able to upload a new story again, I will repost it without the lyrics.**

**Anam, I hope you enjoyed your birthday. :)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 21. Old and New Faces**

_**(2 Days Before Christmas)**_

The next morning, Edward and I woke up, showered, woke up Riley, made breakfast, cleaned up Riley, and got him ready to meet Charlie.

When we reached Charlie's house, there was a blue truck sitting next to Charlie's police cruiser. While I got Riley out of his carseat, I silently wondered who the truck could have belonged to. With Edward following behind me, I carried Riley up the porch steps and knocked on the door.

The door opened, and I was caught by surprise by who was standing on the other side. A very large guy with russet-colored skin, short jet-black hair, and a very familiar smile, stood in front of me.

"Jacob Black?" I asked in surprise.

"Hey there, Bella. It's been awhile." he said. He looked at all three of us and then said, "Why don't you all come inside, Charlie and my dad are in the living room. You can wait to do introductions until we're all in the same room, so you don't have to repeat yourself."

"Okay, sounds good." Before we walked into the living room, I gave Riley to Edward and asked, "Would you be willing to wait here until I tell you to come in?"

Edward nodded his head in understanding and replied, "Sure, whatever you need." I thanked him with a kiss on the cheek, and headed into the room.

"Hey," I said with a small smile. "I wasn't aware we were going to have company for today."

Charlie smiled back at me and joked, "I wasn't aware either. I canceled my former plans, but these two decided to show up here anyways."

"Of course we showed up here. This was the first time you canceled your plans with me in almost 20 years. I just wanted to know why, and I knew you wouldn't tell me right away, so I had Jacob bring me here to find out." said Billy.

Charlie rolled his eyes at Billy and mumbled, "Whatever." Charlie looked at me and asked, "Bells, you remember Billy and his son Jacob?"

"Yeah." I turned to Billy. "Hi, Billy. How are you?"

He gave me a big smile and said, "I'm good. I hear you've been doing good for yourself."

"Yes, I have. Thank you." I looked over to Jacob. "Hi, Jake. How are you?"

"I'm doing great. I actually own an auto shop in La Push, so I can't complain." he replied.

"Wow, that's great. Good for you." I turned back to my dad and asked, "Well, are you ready to meet your grandson?" A look of fear crossed his face for a moment before being replaced with excitement.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

"Okay." I said. I walked into the hallway and took Edward by the hand and led him into the living room with Riley.

"Everyone this is my boyfriend, Edward, and this little guy is our son, Riley." Edward smiled at me when he heard me say 'our son'.

Charlie caught it too because he asked, "I thought James was Riley's father?" I nodded at him.

"He was, but since James passed away, Riley needs a father figure in his life. That's exactly what Edward has been to him since he came into our lives. Riley even started to call him Daddy yesterday. Edward and I talked about it and decided that it was okay because Edward doesn't have any plans to leave us in the future." I explained.

Charlie looked over at Edward. "Is that true? You're not gonna leave them?"

Edward looked at Riley and I with love, and said, "That's right. I'm not going anywhere."

"You better not, or I'll have to get out my shotgun." Edward's eyes went wide after hearing that.

I rolled my eyes and told him, "Ignore him. He wouldn't do that." He didn't look too convinced, but didn't say anything. I walked over to Charlie and asked, "Do you want to hold him?"

Charlie looked a little unsure at first, but agreed after a minute. "Sure." I handed Riley to him and sat back down and watched the two interact for the first time. "Hey, Riley. I'm your grandpa."

Since Riley doesn't understand what that really means, he just stared at Charlie. Then we all laughed as he grabbed Charlie's moustache, and started giggling. After awhile, he wanted to be put down, so I put some toys on the floor for him before Charlie put him down.

We were so absorbed with what was happening, that we had forgotten that Billy and Jacob were still there. It wasn't until Billy cleared his throat, that we remembered about them. "Well, Jake and I better get going, we've got some things to do in town before we head back to the Rez." said, Billy.

We all said our goodbyes and then they left.

Me, Charlie, and Edward, continued to talk for awhile and I ended up making dinner for us all.

After we finished eating, we talked some more before saying goodnight. By the time we got back to the cabin, we were all exhausted. I was glad that today went well for us and it was nice to see th Black's again.

Edward and I could only hope that tomorrow would go just as well. Because tomorrow we were going to see Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, Jasper, and all of their parents.

**A/N: So, did you like it? I think it turned out better than I thought it would.**

**Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you soon! :)**


	22. Confrontations - Part 1

**A/N: Well, here it is. The chapter you've all been waiting for. However, I decided to break in down into two parts, so this is the first half.**

**Anam, you are totally awesome. ;)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers own **_**Twilight.**_

**Chapter 22. Confrontations-Part 1**

_**(1 Day Before Christmas)**_

Today was the day that I was going to confront the people that caused me so much hurt many years ago.

You see, every year on the day before Christmas, the Cullens host a party for their closest friends and their families. So since everyone I need to confront is going to be in the same place, Edward and I chose this night to let everything out in the open.

The best part of this plan is that nobody knows I am going to be there. They don't even know that I'm Edward's girlfriend.

They are all in for a BIG surprise.

After getting ourselves and Riley ready for the evening, we head on over to the Cullen's house. When we pull up the driveway, there are already a few cars here.

As we get out, Edward picks up Riley and we walk to the front door.

"Would you like to stay in the parlor until I come and get you for the surprise?" whispered Edward.

"That sounds like a good idea. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when they see me." I giggled.

Edward opens the door and we all walk inside. I stay in the parlor while he goes into the living room with Riley in his arms. I could hear Edward and everyone else talking.

"Mom, Dad, everyone. It's good to see all of you." he greeted. "Where are Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, and Alice?"

Esme replied, "They got stuck in traffic, they should be here any minute now." After she said that, they all heard the front door open and a bunch of footsteps walking towards the room.

Since Edward was the closest person to them, they all walked over to say hello, but they all stopped short when they noticed the child in his arms.

Emmett asked in his loud voice, "Dude, who's the kid?"

"This is Riley. He's my son." said Edward.

"Your _son_?" they all asked.

Edward nodded at them and said, "He's actually kind of my step-son. He's from my girlfriend's first marriage. Her husband passed away earlier this year in a car accident, so I've taken over the role as his father."

"Where is your girlfriend? Didn't you bring her with you?" questioned Alice.

"She's waiting in the parlor. I wanted to wait until everyone got here before I introduced her."

I could hear his footsteps before I could see him. He had a very cheeky grin on his face. He grabbed my hand and led me out into the living room. As soon as I walked in behind him, I turned to everyone in the room and said, "Surprise!" I smiled as every person in the room seemed to be stunned into silence.

Carlisle was the first to break the silence in the room. "Bella, sweetheart, it's been such a long time since I've seen you." he said with a hug and a smile. "You're Edward's girlfriend and the mother of this child?"

I smiled and looked at Edward and Riley. "Yes, I am. Edward and I have been dating for a little while now, and like he said, Riley is from my first marriage."

Carlisle smiled warmly at me and asked, "Since you were married, I assume your last name is no longer Swan?"

"No. I go by Isabella Hunter now. You may have heard my name before." I looked around at everyone as I said, "I own the largest publishing company in the country."

Alice got a huge smile on her face and said, "You're_ that _Isabella Hunter? I've heard that name before, but I never thought it could have been you."

"Wait, does that mean you've been in Chicago this whole time?" asked Rosalie.

"Yes. I moved there as soon as I could after I graduated highschool. To make a long story short, a friend helped me move and gave me a place to stay and a job while I went to college. Over time, that friend and I got closer and we eventually got married and had a baby." I explained.

"Wait, you said your last name is Hunter? Isn't that the last name of the guy that went to prison for kidnapping you?" asked Jasper.

I huffed in annoyance. "First of all, James didn't kidnap me. He was the only friend I had after all of you had abandoned me, and I was staying with him during a break from school to get away from all the hurt I was feeling. Secondly, yes, I married him. He was a good man that loved me and our son more than anything else in the world. I wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for James, but I'll explain that more later." I noticed Riley beginning getting a bit restless in Edward's arms. "It looks like someone is getting hungry. Will dinner be ready soon?"

I had looked at Esme when I had asked that, but she didn't look at me when she answered. She just got up and told us she'd go and check on the food, and walked out of the room. A minute later, she came back and announced that dinner was ready.

After we had all sat down and began to eat, Alice decided to make some conversation. "So, Bella, how did you and Edward meet up again?" she asked, curiously. "Did Edward know where you were all this time?"

"Actually, no, he didn't. Apparently, Edward was scheduled for an appointment with my husband James to see about getting his book published, but before they could meet, James was killed in a car accident. Since James left his company to me and I had taken over his position, all of his clients were given to me. One day, I was working as usual, when my assistant Carmen informed me that my client for the day had arrived." I chuckled at the memory. "I think we were both pretty surprised when we saw each other."

"Yeah, I was pretty shocked when I realized who she was." said Edward with a smile.

"Aww. That's actually kind of romantic." said Alice. "Well, I'm glad you two found each other. You both seem to be very happy."

I looked over at Edward and we both grinned at each other. "Yeah, we're very happy." I said.

After the meal was over, we all walked back into the living to talk some more. As we sat down, Edward leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Have you realized that Mr. and Mrs. Hale and Mr. McCarty haven't spoken a single word to you so far?" I realized that he was right, and when I looked over at them, they both turned their heads away from me.

"Don't worry about it. They may not have much to say to me, but I have some things to say to them later." I whispered back to him. He nodded at me and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

The sound of a voice clearing caught our attention and we both looked to where the sound came from. Carlisle was sitting next to Esme with an odd look on his face. It looked like a cross between confusion and worry. "Um, something has been bothering me since before we sat down to eat. Bella, when you were talking to Jasper, you mentioned something about people abandoning you and that if it weren't for your late husband, you wouldn't be here tonight. If you don't mind me asking, what did you mean when you said those things?"

I was surprised by his question. I knew that he didn't know about my failed suicide attempt, but I always had a nagging suspicion that he didn't know anything about my best friends leaving me when I needed them the most. His question confirmed that I was right. Carlisle was innocent in all of this, but I felt really bad for him because he was about to find out how cruel his wife and his friends were, not only to me, but to their children as well.

I stood up and looked around the room at everyone before I looked back at Carlisle.

"I really hate having to tell you this, Carlisle, but you don't know your wife and your friends as well as you think you do."

**A/N: I know. You probably hate me right now for leaving you hanging, but I think this chapter is better off being written in two parts. I promise you will get the second half tomorrow.**

**I had a bit of trouble writing this chapter because I'm not used to having so many different characters talking in the same chapter. I wasn't sure how this chapter would turn out, but I think I did okay.**

**Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you soon! :)**


	23. Confrontations - Part 2

**A/N: Here is the second half of the previous chapter. It is gonna be a long one. (Well, long for me anyways!) Enjoy!**

**Anam, as always, you are awesome. Thank you so much for all of your positive thoughts about my ability to write. I love hearing them. ;)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 23. Confrontations - Part 2**

Carlisle looked at me with a look of confusion on his face. "What do you mean by that, Bella? What is going on here?" he asked.

I sighed deeply. "After my mom died, things got very bad for me. At home, my dad had started to drink a lot and essentially treated me as though I didn't even exist. He wouldn't speak to me at all and he wouldn't even look at me. I basically lost both of my parents the day my mom died."

I could feel my eyes beginning to water at the memories. Edward knew that I didn't like to let other people see me cry, so in order to give me a minute to get myself together, he said, "Um, excuse me, but Riley has fallen asleep and I don't want him to get woken up. Dad, is it okay if I take him up to my old bedroom and get him settled in? It will only take a few minutes."

Carlisle replied, "It's alright with me if you two think he'll be okay up there by himself."

Edward nodded at him. "He'll be fine. He's a heavy sleeper, so he won't be waking up anytime soon." And with that, he carried Riley out of the room and up the stairs. Just like he said, Edward was back down within a few minutes. It was just enough time for me to calm myself down a bit.

When he sat back down, he leaned over and quietly asked, "Are you okay now, or do you need another minute?"

"I'm good." I whispered back. I looked back at Carlisle and continued where I had left off.

"So, things were bad at home, but when I wasn't at home, things weren't much better. At first, things okay with our group of friends. They were all supportive of me and did their best to cheer me up, but losing a parent is extremely hard to deal with, and I knew it would take a very long time for me to come to terms with it, but with my friends by my side, I knew I would be okay eventually.

However, over the next few weeks, things between us began to change. I started to notice that my friends were spending less and less time with me and they were beginning to exlude me from things. I tried asking them what was wrong, but they just told me they needed some space because I was too depressing to be around. Eventually, they stopped talking to me altogether. They didn't call me anymore, they wouldn't speak to me, they wouldn't even look at me when they saw me.

I didn't know why they were treating me like that. I was still hurting, but they weren't there for me anymore. First, my dad started to ignore me, and then my friends began to do the same. I was completely alone."

I looked over to where my friends were sitting and saw that they all had tears in their eyes. I knew that they were feeling guilty about what they had done and I know that it wasn't exactly their fault, but they didn't know that I knew that.

I was broken out of my thoughts by Carlisle. He looked over to them and asked, "Why on earth would you all do that her? You knew she was going through a difficult time an-" I cut him off.

"Carlisle, I'll get to that to eventually, but there is a lot more that you need to hear first."

He gave me a small nod. "Of course. I'm sorry for interrupting. Please continue."

I sighed. "Anyways, I was completely alone. I had continued to try and talk to them a few times, but they just continued to ignore me, so I gave up trying. I did my best to get through each day, but it wasn't easy, and things weren't getting any better.

I had begun to take hikes in the woods to pass the time and to kind of escape reality for a bit. One day, I came across this small clearing in the middle of the forest. It was a small meadow that was filled with wildflowers and sunlight. It was breathtaking. It became my special place that I would go to when I wanted to feel happy.

But it wasn't enough.

I eventually got to the point where I couldn't handle being alone and ignored anymore. I felt that no one cared about me anymore and I was going to do something about it."

I had to stop myself at this point because I was starting to get upset again. I excused myself for a few minutes while I went into the kitchen to get some water. Edward followed me and wrapped me in his arms and told me not to worry about anything and to remember that he was there for me now. He always made me feel better when he said that.

I drank some water and we both made our way back into the living room.

"I'm sorry about that." I apologized. "This next part is a bit hard for me to talk about and it's not an easy thing for people to hear." I warned.

"I'm sure we can handle it." said Rosalie.

"I doubt that, but just remember that I warned you."

I turned back to Carlisle. "Alright, back to the story." I paused for a second before I continued again. "I had had enough of being alone and ignored. So one day, I waited until Charlie had left for work. Once he was gone, I went into his room and went straight to the drawer where he kept a gun for protection. It was the same one that my mom had used on herself. I don't know why he kept it, but at that time I didn't care. I took it out, made sure it wasn't empty, and I made my way to the meadow."

I heard Alice and Rosalie gasp in horror and I heard Emmett say, "Oh, shit."

"You were going to kill yourself?" asked Jasper. I nodded. Everyone had a look of disbelief and shock on their faces. Even Esme looked horrified for a second, but she masked it quickly. The Hales and Mr. McCarty continued to look as though nothing bothered them. If anything, they looked kind of bored.

I turned my head back to Jasper and said, "You have no idea how close you all came to losing me. I was standing there in the meadow with the gun to my head and my finger on the trigger, and just as I was about to pull it, a man stepped into the clearing and shouted at me to stop. It was James Hunter."

Tears began to fall from my eyes as I recalled the memory of the first time I James. "He walked over to me and took the gun out of my hands. He made me sit down and he asked me why I wanted to kill myself. I had never met him before and I knew I should've been wary because he was a stranger and I was all alone in the middle of nowhere, but I immediately felt safe with him. He hugged me and held me while I cried about all the things I had lost."

I smiled at the memory. "He was kind and caring, and it was just what I needed. Once I had calmed down enough, he took the bullets out of the gun and handed it back to me. It was getting late, and before we parted, we made plans to meet there the next day. And we did. We talked about ourselves and we became friends. I know it was kind of weird that someone 8 years older than me wanted to be my friend, but he knew what it was like to lose a parent, or in his case, both parents. He understood me and he didn't want me to feel lonely anymore."

Everyone was quiet while they let that information sink in. Five minutes later, I started talking again.

"James made me happy. We hung out a lot at his cabin and in the meadow and had fun. He made me feel sort of normal again. We didn't really care about our age difference because it just felt so normal being around each other. And besides, we were strictly friends back then. We weren't having sex, so it wasn't like we were doing anything illegal. Since I always felt happy around him, when I found out I was going to have a week off of school, I decided I would pack some things and spend the week at his cabin with him.

I didn't think anyone would notice that I wasn't going to be around for a week, but I was wrong. Even though it took him a few days to notice that I hadn't been home for awhile, Charlie got worried I guess. He hired some search and rescue dogs from La Push and that's how he found James' cabin. He had James arrested and when I tried to explain to him what happened, he just told me that I was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome or something. That was the first and last time he spoke to me after my mom died because he went right back to drinking and ignoring me after I got home."

"So that was why you became so upset after James was arrested? You realized you were going to end up alone again." said Carlisle.

I nodded. "Yeah, I knew that it wouldn't change anything."

"But that still doesn't explain what my wife and the others have to do with anything."

"I'm getting there. But I'll try to make this this quicker." I replied. "Even though he was in prison, James and I continued to keep in touch with each other through letters. He had even managed to send me gifts for my birthdays. Nobody else bothered to do that. We made plans for when he got out. I would be 18 by that time, so nobody could stop us from doing anything. For three years, thinking of our plan, was the only thing that got me through the day. I was accepted into a college in Chicago, and when he got out, he would give me a place to stay and a job at his company.

And that's exactly what we did. I graduated highschool, he got out, we waited until he was no longer on parole, and then he helped me get my things sent to Chicago and then we left. Over time, we fell in love, got married, I graduated from college, we had a baby, and then he died."

I looked over to Edward and smiled. "And then Edward walked into my life again. I was angry at him for how he had treated me in the past, and we ended up talking all about it. When I asked him why he and our friends treated me so badly," I looked at Esme and the others. "He told me everything."

Esme was glaring at me now and I could practically see the steam coming out of her ears and it seemed I had finally gotten the attention of the other parents.

I looked right at Esme and the others while I spoke. "Edward explained to me how all of you manipulated and threatened your own children. You told them that you would take away everything they had if they didn't stay away from me. You threatened to take away their cars, their phones, even their college funds and trust funds."

Esme finally spoke up, or more like shouted. "Shut up! You're lying! Don't listen to her!"

"Esme, sit the fuck down!" shouted Carlisle. I have never heard Carlisle yell before, let alone, swear. It was kind of disturbing. Apparently, the others felt that way too because they all just stood there with their mouths hanging open in surprise. The look on Esme's face was priceless. I don't think she ever expected her husband to talk to her like that.

"Tell me the truth! Did all of you really do that?" he asked. He got his answer when they remained silent. He stood up and began pacing back and forth while running his hands through his hair. Now I know where Edward picked up that habit. "Why would you do that to your own children? To Bella?"

When they still didn't answer, he yelled again. "Answer me!"

Esme finally had enough. She stood up and got right in Carlisle's face. "You want to know why we did those things?" she shouted. "We did it to protect our family's reputations! We couldn't allow ourselves to be associated with that family anymore. What would people think if we allowed our kids to be around someone who's mother killed herself because she was mentally unstable?"

"I don't give a damn about our reputation or about what other people think!" Carlisle said angrily. "Do you realize what you guys did? You hurt our kids by forcing them to stay away from Bella! And you ended up causing Bella so much more pain, to the point that she almost killed herself! What is wrong with you people?"

Mr. McCarty decided to speak up then. "There is nothing wrong with us, Carlisle." Mr. and Mrs. Hale nodded their heads in agreement, but still didn't say anything. I almost wondered if they could even speak at all at this point. "We just know that there are things that are more important than what our children want."

"I've heard enough!" said Carlisle. He looked at Mr. McCarty and Mr. and Mrs. Hale and yelled, "Get out! I don't ever want to see any of you ever again!" They quickly gathered their things and left.

Then he looked at his wife. "Esme? Go upstairs and pack your bags. I want you gone too."

"You can't throw me out of my own house!"

"Actually, Esme, it's _my_ house. I own it. Now hurry up and get out! You can come and get the rest of your things after the holidays."

"Fine!" she huffed. As she walked past me she stopped and pointed at me. "This is all_ your _fault! I wish you would have killed yourself when you had the chance!" She went to slap me, but Edward grabbed her hand before she could touch me.

The look on Edward's face was downright scary. "Don't you dare touch her." he growled.

"Esme, either you get your things and leave now, or I will call the police and have you removed. Think about what_ that _would do to your_ reputation_." said Carlisle.

She thought about it for a second and then turned around to get her things. A few minutes later we heard the front door open and slam shut.

I excused myself to go and check on Riley and when I saw that he was still asleep, I returned to the living room.

Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper, had been practically quiet throughout everything. I think they were just trying to absorb what had just happened. Carlisle sat back down and put his head in his hands and it looked like he was crying.

After everything that had happened tonight, I didn't blame him. I decided that after everyone had some time to relax and clear their heads, I would tell them that I forgave them.

So I curled up next to Edward with my head on his shoulder, and waited.

**A/N: So, what did you think? I can't force you to review, but if you've been following this story so far, I would REALLY like to know what you guys think about this chapter. And if you do review, please be honest. I promise to not get offended. If you didn't like it, let me know why. I'd really like to know.**

**Thank you for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you soon! :)**


	24. Forgiveness

**A/N: I am so glad you all liked the previous chapter. I wanted to thank you all for your reviews. I love reading them. This chapter isn't going to be nearly as long as the last one, but I hope you still like it anyways.**

**Anam, as always, I love your reviews. :)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers own **_**Twilight.**_

**Chapter 24. Forgiveness**

Once everyone had calmed down, I decided to break the uncomfortable silence. "Um, I know that we've all been through a lot tonight, but I still have more things I need to say."

"Can whatever you have to say wait until tomorrow?" asked a tired Emmett.

"I'm with Emmett on this one. I don't think I can handle anymore tonight, Bella." said Alice.

"Actually, no. I really don't want to wait, and I think all of you need to hear what I have to say after what just happened." I said. I took a deep breath and let it out before I began again.

"I just wanted you all to know that I forgive you. I want to put everything behind us now and move on, but I want to move on with all of you in my life. I was very happy with James, but there was always this feeling of emptiness and sadness inside of me. I didn't even realize it was there until Edward showed up. I understood then that it was because I didn't have you guys in my life. When I saw you all earlier, that emptiness and sadness went away and I felt whole again. I don't ever want to feel like that again, and I've missed you all so much, so I would really like it if we could all be friends again, if that's something that you want."

Alice ran over to me and gave me a hug. "Of course we want to be your friend! I think I can speak for all of us when I say that life just hasn't felt the same without you in it."

Jasper came up to me next and gave me a hug and a smile and said, "Bella, Alice is right."

"Of course I'm right! I always am."

That made us all chuckle. Jasper continued, "Things haven't been the same without you. I've missed our conversations about history. You were the only one that didn't get bored talking about it with me. I look forward to doing that again."

"That sounds like plan. I've missed that too." I said with a smile.

"My turn." said Emmett. He walked over to me and pick me up off the floor in a gigantic bear hug. "Wanna know what I missed? I missed embarrasing you and making you blush. It was so easy." He laughed and said, "I can't wait to do that again!"

Rosalie walked over to us and smacked Emmett on the back of the head. "Emmett! Put her down and stop hogging her!" As soon as I was back on my feet, Rosalie gave me a small hug next.

"Bella, thank you so much for forgiving us. It means a lot. We've all had this huge weight on our shoulders for years, and you finally made it go away by getting everything out in the open. So, thank you." she said.

"Your welcome. I've known for a long time that I would eventually have to face my past, and I'm glad that I got the opportunity to do it."

It was Carlisle's turn next, but all he did was sit there and stare at the floor.

I turned to the others and said quietly, "Why don't you guys go on upstairs and get some sleep. Tomorrow is a big day." They got the hint and did as I suggested.

Edward stayed where he was and just watched his father. I walked over to him and asked, "Is it alright if we just stay here tonight? We're going to be here tomorrow anyways and Riley is already asleep."

"That sounds like a good idea." he said.

"It is. Why don't you go on upstairs too? I'd like a few minutes alone with Carlisle."

He sighed. "Alright. Don't take too long, okay? If you need anything, you know where to find me." He kissed me and gave me a hug before disappearing up the stairs.

I walked over to the cabinet where the liquor was kept and got out a bottle of whiskey. I poured some in a small glass and carried it over to Carlisle. As I sat down, I handed it to him and said, "Here, I figured you could probably use some of this right now."

He took the glass from me and and took a few sips before saying, "Thank you. I feel like I could drink an entire bottle of this right now."

"I'm sure you could, but I really don't want to have to carry you up the stairs by myself because you're too drunk to walk." I joked.

"Edward offered to help you if you needed it." he reminded me.

I smiled and said, "I know that, but I know for a fact that he's most likely asleep already. He's usually out like a light after a long day and a lot has gone on tonight."

"You really love him." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"I really do. Riley and I are lucky to have him in our lives. After James died, I didn't think I could ever love anyone else again, but I was wrong."

"As much as I love Esme, I don't think I'll ever be able to get over what she did to all of you. I have no idea what to do now." he said quietly.

I sighed and grabbed his hand. "Carlisle, the only advice I have for you, is to not think about it right now. Enjoy the holiday's with your family and worry about her later."

He nodded. "You're right. But it's not going to be easy. I've spent every holiday with her for the last 30 years. It's not going to be the same. But, I'll do my best to make sure we all have a good time."

"All I ask is that you at least try to stay sober. Getting drunk didn't exactly turn out too well for my father. And besides, if you get drunk and pass out, there's no telling what Emmett might do to you." I said with a smile.

Carlisle chuckled at the thought. "Yeah, that wouldn't be a good thing. A few years ago, Edward got completely wasted and passed out on the couch and we left him there, but when we came back down in the morning, he was still there. The only difference was that he looked like a giant smurf."

We both started to laugh really hard. Carlisle continued, "Apparently, Emmett snuck back downstairs in the middle of the night and painted his skin blue and dressed him up in white clothes." We laughed again.

"That is such an Emmett thing to do! Please tell me you have pictures of that?" I asked.

"I'm sure I do. I'll have to find them before you guys leave."

"I'm looking forward to it." I said. "Well, it's late and I'm tired, so I think it's time to call it a night."

We stood up and Carlisle hugged me. "Thank you for trying to cheer me up. I really appreciate it. I'm glad you're back."

"Thank you Carlisle. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Bella. I'll see you in the morning." he said, and then he walked out of the room.

I grabbed a quick snack from the kitchen and then made my way to Edward's room. He and Riley were both asleep, so I gave them each a kiss on the cheek, and then I went to sleep.

**A/N: I had a bit of trouble with the beginning of this chapter, but I think it turned out okay. I also added a bit of humor at the end.**

**Thank you for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you soon! :)**


	25. Christmas - Part 1

**A/N: Here's the next chapter. I just wanted you all to know that this chapter will also be split into two. This is just the first half. Enjoy!**

**My friend Anam asked me how many more chapters there were going to be for this story. I'm not sure how many more there will be. I was thinking maybe there might be about 5 or 6 more chapters, but there could end up being more. I'm not promising anything though.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight.**_

**Chapter 25. Christmas - Part 1**

The next morning, everyone woke up and got to work getting things ready for tonight.

The first thing us women did, was to ban the men from the kitchen, and the men were forced to find things to do.

While Rosalie, Alice, and myself got to work baking and preparing the food for our dinner later, the guys busied themselves with putting up the last of the decorations and waiting until the last minute to finish wrapping gifts. They even let Riley help a little.

Keeping busy was a good thing. It kept our minds off of what happened the night before. We all did our best to enjoy the day and have some fun.

Even Carlisle seemed to be doing okay, despite not having Esme around. I did however, catch him trying to sneak a few shots of whiskey throughout the day, but I made sure to keep an eye on him so he wouldn't drink too much.

The other guys were doing a bit better also. I guess moving things around and attempting to wrap gifts was making them hungry. They kept trying to sneek into the kitchen to steal cookies while they thought we weren't looking. Eventually, they stopped trying, but that probably had something to with the fact that they kept getting their hand smacked with wooden spoons.

A few hours later, we all sat down to eat dinner. We all talked and chatted with each other and I learned more about what my friends had been up to in the last few years.

Emmett had pursued a career as a professional football player for the Seattle Seahawks, but he injured his knee and was unable to play anymore, at least on a professional level. He never even got a chance to make it to the playoffs. He now works as a physical therapist for injured athletes.

I found out that Rosalie owns a garage where she fixes up and restores vintage cars. She's even had a few celebrities bring their old cars in for her to restore.

Alice had her own fashion line and sold her clothes all over the world and Jasper was the youngest person to teach at the University of Washington in Seattle. He teaches American History.

Carlisle was still working at the hospital and had no plans to retire anytime soon.

I told them a bit more about my time in Chicago and about some of my friends there. We chatted a bit more about other things, and then we all helped to put our leftovers away.

When we were finished, we all made our way to the living room and began to hand out our gifts. Since nobody knew that Riley and I were going to be there for Christmas, we didn't get gifts from anyone besides Edward, but everyone said that they would have some for us tomorrow. We had gotten presents for everyone and we sat back and enjoyed watching them unwrap them.

Instead of everyone ripping open their presents at the same time, we each took a turn.

Emmett went first. The look on his face when he saw what we got him was priceless. "You got me tickets to see the Chicago Bears! This is so awesome. Thank you so much!"

"We thought you might like them. James was actually a huge Bears fan and he knew some of the players, so he always bought season tickets ahead of time. He never got a chance to use these, and I'm not much of a football person, so I didn't want to waste them and I figured you could enjoy them." I said.

"Wow. It doesn't bother you that you're giving something of his away?" asked Emmett.

"No. I have plenty of his things that I intend to keep, so it's okay."

Emmett got up and walked over to me to give me a hug. "This really means a lot to me. Thanks." he said quietly.

After he sat down, he opened up his other gifts. Alice got him some new football jerseys, Jasper gave him a book on the history of football, Carlisle had gotten him some video games, and Rosalie gave him tickets to see Pitbull in concert.

Next up was Rosalie. We had gotten her tickets to some auto shows. She loved them. "This is a wonderful gift. I've actually been meaning to get some of these, so they are perfect." She gave us a hug and said, "Thank you."

Jasper and Alice gave her a gift certificate for Victoria's Secret, and Carlisle gave her a gift certificate for a day at the spa.

Jasper had his turn after Rosalie. I knew he love our gifts. Edward and I had gone to an estate sale a week before we had returned to Forks. We came across some items from the Civil War. I got Jasper some journals that belonged to a young Major in the Confederate Army, and Edward got him the sword that went with the journals.

"Wow. These are absolutely amazing. I can't wait to read these and put this saber up on my office wall at home. I've been looking for things like this to add to my collection, but they aren't very easy to find. I'm really lucky. Thank you so much for these."

"You're welcome, but before we continue, I want you to go put those away so Riley doesn't get to them." I told him.

"Sure, I'll be right back." he said as he left the room.

He got back a minute later and then continued to open his presents. Emmett gave Jasper a book about the battles of the Civil War, Rosalie gave him some new clothes, Carlisle gave him a book on medical practices during the Civil War, and Alice got him a registration form for a Civil War reenactment.

"What's that?" asked Emmett.

"It's a form for me to fill out, so I can participate in a Civil War reenactment." replied Jasper. Emmett just looked at him in confusion, so Jasper had to explain it more. "You know how there are places where people dress up and act like people did in the past?" Emmett nodded at him. "Well, it's kind of like that, but I get to pretend to be a soldier and I have to live the way they did back then. I won't have any modern things like cell phones or electricity. I get to live like a real Civil War soldier for a week."

"Oh. Now I get it. Thanks for clearing that up." said Emmett.

"No problem." said Jasper. "Now it's Alice's turn."

We got Alice a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes that she absolutely loved. "These are the exact ones that I wanted! she exclaimed. "How did you know I wanted them?"

Edward and I looked at each other and then Edward replied, "We didn't know that you wanted them. It was just a very luck guess, I suppose."

"Well thank you so much. I tried to get some of these myself, but they were sold out. I didn't think I would ever get the chance to own a pair. You guys are life savers. Thank you." she said happily.

"You're welcome, Alice. Now hurry up and unwrap the rest of your presents. I want to see what else you got." I said.

So she did. Jasper bought her a Prada bag, Rosalie and Emmett gave her a dress by Vera Wang, and Carlisle gave her a pass for a two week long getaway with Jasper.

It was now Carlisle's turn, but as he went to reach for a gift to open, the doorbell rang.

"I wonder who that could be?" he asked.

Edward went to get up and answer it, but Carlisle told him to sit back down and to let him get it. We were all completely silent, so we could hear who it was. We were very surprised by what we heard.

"Hello, Chief Swan. What can I do for you this evening?"

**A/N: I know I left you hanging again, but I felt this chapter would be better in two parts like the previous ones.**

**Thank you for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you soon! :)**


	26. Christmas - Part 2

**A/N: Here is the second half of the Christmas chapter. Enjoy!**

**Anam, I know how much you want to see more interaction between Edward and Riley, and I promise you'll get some, but it won't be in this chapter. Sorry. ;(**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight.**_

**Chapter 26. Christmas - Part 2**

When we all heard Carlisle say my father's name, we all rushed to the front door. Charlie was standing there wearing his police uniform and talking to Carlisle.

When Charlie noticed we were in the room, he said, "Hey, kids. Merry Christmas." We all said it back to him.

"Charlie? What are you doing here? Is everything okay?" I asked him.

"Uh, I'm here for police business, and whether or not things are okay remains to be seen." Charlie replied.

"Can't you tell us anything, Chief?" asked Emmett.

Charlie looked back to Carlisle and asked, "Is it okay for them to know why I'm here, or do you want to deal with this privately?"

Carlisle sighed, "You can tell them."

Charlie nodded and turned to all of us and explained, "I'm here tonight because we got a call from one of the bars in town telling us to go there to pick up Esme Cullen. Apparently, she's had quite a few drinks and was starting to cause problems. Since it's Christmas, I thought I should bring her back here to sleep it off instead of letting her sober up in a jail cell."

"Chief Swan? Yesterday, I threw her out of my house. She is not welcome back here until after the holidays." He turned to look at us before looking back at Charlie and sighing. "I think it would be best if she just spent the night sleeping it off at the station. If she can't find someone to pick her up in the morning, leave her there until she does." suggested Carlisle.

"You sure you want me to do that?" asked Charlie.

"I'm sure. Now if that's all, we would really like to get back to our celebrations."

"Alright. You folks have a nice night. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Chief." we all said.

Charlie started to walk down the driveway, but turned around. "Hey Bells? If you guys have time tomorrow, could you stop by for a bit?"

"Sure. We'll see you then."

He nodded. "Okay." Then he got into his cruiser and drove away to take Esme to the police station.

We were all quiet as we walked back to the living room. Once there, Rosalie looked at Carlisle and asked, "Are you really going to let her stay in a jail cell until someone can pick her up?"

"Yes I am."

"Why?" asked Edward and Jasper at the same time.

"Because even though what she did to all of you was wrong, it wasn't illegal." We must have looked confused because he went on to explain, "This way, she kind of serves a little jail time, even though she hasn't officially been arrested."

"Oh." we all said.

"That's awsome!" praised Emmett. "That was really smart thinking."

"Thanks. Why don't we get back to opening gifts, shall we?" Carlisle proceded to open his gifts from everyone.

So far, everyone had opened our gifts first, but since out gift to Carlisle was so big, he decided to open it last.

He opened ug the gift from Alice and Jasper first. They gave him a new stethoscope that was engraved with an inscription. The inscription said:

_"The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease." -Voltaire_

Carlisle ran his fingers over the engraving. "Alice, Jasper, this is really beautiful. Thank you. I'll always cherish this."

"You're welcome, Dad. We remembered how you were complaining about how your current stethoscope wasn't working as well as it used to, so we decided to get you a new one." explained Alice.

"Yeah, and I was actually looking for some kind of medical book for you, but I came across this quote and I thought you might like it, so we had it engraved on there." said Jasper.

"It's perfect. I love it."

Rosalie and Emmett handed him his gift next. They had gotten him all 8 seasons of_ House_ on DVD as a joke, but as it turns out, he was a big fan of the show, so the joke was really on them.

Then it was time for Carlisle to open the gift from us.

Once it was fully unwrapped, tears began to form in his eyes. In front of him was a hand-painted portrait of his family. It was an exact copy of the photo that hung in his home office. In it, Carlisle and Esme stood behind a very young Edward and Alice. It was his favorite.

"This is stunning. I'm speechless. Who is the artist?" he asked.

"His name is Laurent Pierre. My friend Victoria dated him in college. James and I had him do some paintings for the penthouse a few years ago, so when Edward told me how much you loved that photo, I contacted him and had him make a portrait of it for you." I said.

"It's amazing. Thank you. This really means a lot to me. Next time you see him, tell him I said his work is incredible."

"I will. Remind me to give you one of his cards before we head back to Chicago."

"I will." he said with a smile.

We picked up all the paper off the floor and got up and gave each other hugs as thanks for the gifts we had given them. We then said our goodbyes and made our way back to the cabin.

Once there, I got Riley into his pajamas and helped him put cookies on a plate and fill up a glass with milk to leave for Santa. Edward and I tucked him into bed, and when we were sure he was fast asleep, we got out the presents from us and 'Santa', and put them under the tree we had.

Edward and I made our way to bed, and as soon as our heads hit the pillows, we were out like a light.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed that chapter.**

**Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you soon! :)**


	27. Presents, Presents, and More Presents

**A/N: I just wanted to clear something up. The last two chapters take place on Christmas Eve which is December 24th. This chapter takes place on Christmas Day which is on December 25th.**

**Anam, you wanted some more interactions between Edward and Riley, so you'll get some. ;)**

**Also, in case you were wondering, Riley is 2 years old at this point. Since I've never spent a lot of time around small children, I'm not really sure what their vocabulary skills are like, so if I end up making him sound older, I'm sorry. You'll just have to bear with me.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight.**_

**Chapter 27. Presents, Presents, and More Presents**

The next morning, I groaned as I was woken up by Riley shouting, "Mommy! Daddy! Wake up!"

I felt Edward move behind me, so I knew he was already awake. He leaned over and whispered into my ear. "Take your time getting waking up. I'll go see what he needs." He kissed me on the cheek and got up to check on Riley.

I could tell it was still early in the morning and I all I wanted to do was sleep in. I turned over and closed my eyes to go back to sleep when I heard Riley in the doorway. "She's sleeping." he whispered to Edward.

"Do you think we should wake her up?" Edward whispered back.

Riley giggled. "Yeah." he said quietly.

"Then go wake her up." suggested Edward.

"Okay." Riley said excitedly. I heard his little footsteps run across the floor and stop. "I can't reach."

"I'll help you." Edward helped Riley climb onto the bed. "There you go. Now go wake her up." I just knew Edward was smiling because he knew that I was pretending to sleep.

I felt Riley crawl across the bed and shake my shoulder. "Mommy?" he said softly. When I didn't move, he tried again. "Mommy? Wake up!" he said a little louder. I still didn't move. I felt him turn around towards Edward. "Why won't she wake up?" asked Riley.

"I don't know. Maybe you should tickle her." Edward suggested.

Riley turned towards me again, but just as touched me, I sat up and grabbed him, and began to tickle him instead. His laughter filled the room. It was one of my most favorite sounds in the world.

Not wanting to miss out on the fun, Edward soon joined us on the bed and we began to have a tickle war. By the time we were done, we were all breathing hard from laughing.

Once we calmed down, Riley asked, "Can we go open presents now?"

"Sure, let's go see what Santa brought you." I told him.

We made our way into the living room and Edward passed out the presents. Almost all of them were for Riley, but I was surprised when he handed me a small present.

"What's this?" I asked him.

"This, is my gift to you."

"You didn't have to get me anything, Edward."

"I know. I saw this and I just had to get it for you." He smiled at me and said, "Well, what are you waiting for? Open it."

I carefully unwrapped the small gift. Underneath the wrapping paper, was a small velvet box. It was too small for a ring, so I didn't know what it could be. Edward watched me intently as I opened the box.

I gasped. Inside the box was a beautiful silver charm bracelet that had a stunning crystal heart charm on it.

"Edward, this is so beautiful. It must have cost a fortune."

"You're worth every penny, and more." he said softly.

I felt tears form in my eyes and I leaned over and hugged him. "Thank you. I really love it." I gave him a kiss and asked him, "Can you help me put it on?"

"Of course, love."

After he put it on my wrist, I said, "I feel really bad now. I ordered your gift a few weeks ago, but it wasn't going to arrive in time for the holidays, so you'll have to wait until we get back to Chicago to get it."

He gave me another smile and told me, "Don't worry about it. It's fine. I don't mind waiting."

We turned our attention to Riley. He was picking up each gift and shaking it to see if he could figure out what was inside. After he had shaken each present, he began to open them up. We had gotten him some toys, clothes, and movies. He loved them all.

After we picked up all the wrapping paper off the floor, we got dressed and I made breakfast. Then we headed on over to my father's house.

When we got there, I got Riley out of the car and carried him, while Edward grabbed the presents we had gotten for Charlie. We knocked on the door and Charlie greeted us at the door.

"Hey guys. Come on in."

"Merry Christmas, Dad." I said.

"Merry Christmas, Chief Swan" greeted Edward.

"You can call me Charlie, Edward."

"Thanks." replied Edward.

I looked at Riley. "Riley say Merry Christmas to your grandpa."

Riley looked at my dad, and said shyly, "Merry Christmas, Grandpa."

Charlie's eyes lit up when Riley called him Grandpa. "Merry Christmas, Riley. You wanna open some more presents?" he said with a smile.

"Yeah!" Riley exclaimed.

We all headed into the living room and sat down while we passed out some more gifts. We let Riley go first since he was so excited. "Wait until you see what I got him. You'll get a real kick out of it." Charlie said with a smile.

And we did. Charlie had gotten Riley a little toy police kit. It had plastic handcuffs, a badge, and a little police hat in it. It was really cute. Riley really liked it.

Edward went next. My dad had gotten him some really nice notebooks for Edward to keep track of his ideas for writing in, and a really nice pen set to go along with it. Edward thanked him and then it was my turn.

I unwrapped my present to find a small box. Like the one Edward gave me earlier, this box was too small for a ring. I opened it up to find a necklace in it. The necklace had a little butterfly on it with a diamond in the middle.

It had belonged to my mother. I remember her telling me that one day it would be mine, and now it was.

I thanked my father and gave him a hug. I told him how much it meant to me.

We gave Charlie his present once I finished thanking him. Edward and I had bought him a brand new tackle box for all of his fishing gear. He told us how he had been needing a new one for a few years now, but was too busy to go out and get one.

We cleaned up the room and we had lunch. Charlie asked us when we planned on coming back to Forks after we left for Chicago and we talked about it for awhile.

We had to leave after we were finished because we needed to head over to the Cullen house, so we could get our gifts from everyone else. So we thanked each other all over again for our gifts and we said our goodbyes.

Then we headed to the Cullen house to open even more presents. I was beginning to think the gift giving would never end.

**A/N: So, what did you think? Feel free to leave a review if you want.**

**Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you soon! :)**


	28. Snowballs and More Gifts

**A/N: I just wanted to give a shout out to my two favorite reviewers, Anam, and pmk kelly. Thank you so much for reviewing so far. I hope you continue to do so for future chapters.**

**For my other readers, like I've mentioned before, I can't force you to leave me a review, but I would really appreciate it if you would. You can even leave a review in another language if you want. I can just go to Google Translate to read it. :)**

**Anyways, on to the story.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 28. Snowballs and More Gifts**

We arrived at the Cullen house about 5 minutes after leaving my Dad's. Edward and I got out of the car and I walked over and unstrapped Riley from his carseat. I picked him up and turned around just in time to see a snowball hit Edward right in the face. Emmett's booming laughter filled the air.

Riley laughed at Edward's snow-covered face, while I tried to hold in my laughter. Edward wiped the snow off his face and scowled. "Emmett, I'm going to kill you when I find you!" he shouted.

"You gotta find me first!" yelled Emmett. Since everything was covered in snow, it was difficult to tell where he could be because everything was just so white.

"Don't worry, Emmett. I will!"

I laughed as another snowball came out of nowhere and hit Edward in the chest and Emmett shouted, "Good luck, dude! You're gonna need it."

Edward bent down and started to make some snowballs of his own, when another one flew right by his head and landed on the car right next to me. I didn't want myself or Riley to get hit, so I told Edward we would wait for him and Emmett inside.

I walked into the house with Riley and was greeted by Carlisle.

"Hello, Bella. Hey there, Riley." he walked over and gave us both a hug. "Where is Edward?"

"Emmett started a snowball fight with him." I explained. "I didn't want us to get hit, so we left them to it."

"Ah. Well, that explains where Emmett went a few minutes ago." he said with a chuckle. "They do this every year."

"Who usually wins?" I asked.

"It's kind of a tie. Sometimes Emmett wins, and sometimes Edward does."

"Huh. Where are the others?"

"I think they're all in the kitchen making snacks. Why don't we go join them while we wait for those two to finish." suggested Carlisle.

"That sounds like a good idea. I can make them some hot chocolate to help them warm up once they get inside."

I followed Carlisle into the kitchen and greeted everyone when we got there.

"Hey, guys. What are you up to?" I asked.

"Nothing much." said Jasper. "We were just making something to eat."

"Where is Edward?" asked Alice.

"Is he with Emmett?" questioned Rosalie.

"Edward is outside, and yes, Emmett is with him. They're having a snowball fight." I told them.

"Oh." said Alice.

"Wait, they're having a snowball fight without me?" asked Jasper. "That's not fair! They didn't tell me they were going to have one." He started to walk out of the room to go join them, but Alice stopped him.

"You're not going to go out there! The last time you got involved in one of their fights, you got hit with a ball of ice and had to get stitches in the side of your head. go sit back down and eat!"

"Alice." he whined, "That was an accident! Emmett didn't realize it had ice in it."

"That's kind of the point, Jasper." said Rosalie. "It's dangerous."

He sat back down and mumbled, "Whatever."

While Jasper sulked, the rest of us talked about what we did earlier in the day.

About 10 minutes later, Emmett and Edward burst through the front door laughing and covered in snow. After they had gotten cleaned up, they came into the kitchen and sat down with the cups of hot chocolate I made for them.

"Who won?" asked Carlisle.

"I did." Edward said proudly.

"He cheated." grumbled Emmett.

"I did not cheat!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Hey! That's enough. It doesn't matter who won as long as you had fun. Now drink your hot chocolate, so we can go open the last of our gifts." I said to them.

They both did as I told them, and with a smile, I took Riley into the living room. The others soon followed, and we began to open our gifts. Since we only had so much room to carry things with us on the plane to go home, everyone just got Edward and I gifts we could share.

Emmett and Rosalie got us some books they knew we would like, and Alice and Jasper gave us some new clothes that Alice had designed herself. We loved the gifts they had gotten us, but I think our favorite gift had to be from Carlisle. He had given us a photo album that was filled with pictures of all of us from when we were kids. It brought back a lot of happy memories from before my mom died. Some of the picture were familiar, but there were also a few that I we had never seen before. It was really beautiful.

We thanked them and let Riley open his gifts next. He got some more movies and a few games from all of them.

We thanked them again, and cleaned up the room once more. We told them about our plans for visiting in the future and before we knew it, it was time for us to go. We didn't want to stay too late, because we wanted to get our things packed so we would have everything ready for when we had to leave in two days. Doing that would give us an entire day to spend with everyone before we went back to Chicago.

Before we left, we thanked everyone again, and headed to the cabin to pack.

Once we had tucked Riley into bed, we started to pack. It took about 45 minutes to get everything put away and to make sure we didn't miss anything.

We still had a little bit of time before it got too late, so we decided to have a little adult time. We checked on Riley in the next room to make sure he was asleep, and once we were sure he wouldn't wake up, we headed back to our room and closed the door.

We ended up making love two times before we got tired and decided to call it a night. Besides, we needed to get some sleep, so we could have the energy tomorrow to visit everyone one last time before we had to head back to Chicago.

**A/N: You gotta love Emmett. I wish I had a brother like him, but unfortunately, my brother is a jerk and rarely speaks to me unless he has to, even though I'm only two years older than him. He and I have absolutely nothing in common with each other. I don't get to see him often though, because he is in the Marines, and is currently stationed in Okinawa, Japan. He was there for the typhoon that happened recently, and he said it was the most exciting thing he's ever experienced. What an idiot. LOL. ;)**

**Thank you for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you soon! :)**


	29. Goodbye For Now

**A/N: I'm sorry this chapter won't be very long. I had to take my cat to the vet because she's been throwing up a lot the last 3 days, so I haven't had much time to write today. I figured a short chapter is better than nothing.**

**Anam, it appears we have another thing in common besides our love for Twilight. Brothers are a pain in the ass. You can't live with them, and you can't live without them. ;)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight.**_

**Chapter 29. Goodbye For Now**

As I woke up this morning, I felt very content and happy. Unfortunately, I knew that feeling wouldn't last as the day wore on.

Today was going to be the last day we would get to spend with our friends and family before we went back home to Chicago.

As much as we didn't want to leave, we had to. Riley had preschool, and Edward and I both had jobs to do.

We both pushed those thoughts out of our minds, and got ready to face the day.

We stopped at my father's house first. We spent a about 2 hours visiting with him before we said our goodbyes because Charlie had to go to work soon.

Saying goodbye to my father was really hard for the both of us. I had expected it to be, especially after everything we had been through. We both hugged each other and cried for nearly 5 minutes before we had to get going. We still had to say goodbye to the others. We promised to keep in touch with each other, and then we got in the car and went to the Cullen house.

We pulled up to the house, got Riley out of his carseat, and made our way into the house.

We made our way into the living room and greeted everyone before sitting down, and spent the next few hours playing games, watching tv, and telling stories about our childhood.

Everybody was laughing and having a good time until it was time to for us to leave. The laughter began to quiet down, and was soon replaced with quiet sniffles, and tearful farewells.

Edward, Riley, and I, took turns hugging Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, Jasper, and Carlisle, before heading to the door.

The others followed us to the front door to see us off, and Carlisle walked us out to our car. Before we got in, he hugged us once more, and told us something to cheer us up a little.

Apparently, Esme had just gotten picked up from the police station earlier that morning. That meant that it took her nearly two days to find someone to come and get her.

That made us laugh, and even Carlisle cracked a smile at that, before saying goodbye again, and walking back up to the house to watch us leave.

The rest of night and the next morning passed by in a blur.

Before we knew it, we were on a plane and heading back to the Windy City.

**A/N: I know it was short, but like I said earler, a short chapter is better than no chapter at all. And I know that there wasn't any dialogue in this chapter, but it takes me awhile to write it, and I've had a long day, so I didn't really feel like it.**

**Also, for those of you not familiar with the nicknames for American cities, "The Windy City" is what Chicago is sometimes known as. It really deserves it's nickname. It really is very windy there sometimes. You would think that the tall buildings would block the wind, but it doesn't. I know that because I live near Chicago, and I've been there quite a few times. :)**

**Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you soon! :)**


	30. Home Is Where The Heart Is

**A/N: So, I had put a poll on my profile page for this story, but only 1 person took it, so I took it down. That was kind of a disappointment. On the bright side, my cat is doing much better.**

**I want to give a shout out to my favorite reader, and cat lover, Anam! Cats Rule! LOL ;)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight.**_

**Chapter 30. Home Is Where The Heart Is**

We had been back home in Chicago for a 3 weeks now, and things were going good, but we missed everyone back in Forks.

The first week after leaving Forks was hard on both Edward and I, and Riley didn't seem to care too much, seeing as though he was only two years old and had only known everyone back there for a short time.

It was especially hard on Edward. I think he was having some difficulty dealing with the fact that his parents were no longer togther. Sure, he seemed okay during holidays without his mother around, but I had a feeling that he was hiding how he really felt about it more than he let on. Edward might not have liked Esme much these past few years, but she was still his mother and he loved her.

That first week was kind of rough on him though. He hardly smiled at all, he wasn't getting much sleep, and didn't eat very much. After a few days of that, I had enough. I sat him down and tried to get him to talk about what was bothering him, and he refused at first, but when I told him how much it hurt me to see him like that, he opened up. It turned out my theory had been right. He was having a hard time with his parent's separation.

After we talked, he got a little better, but he still seemed a little down. That all changed the next day, when the gift I had gotten him for Christmas finally arrived.

I had given him the very first published copy of his book.

When he unwrapped it, he was so happy, he cried. He had really worked hard to achieve his dream of being published author. This particular book meant a lot to him, and me. It was basically a memoir, but he used different names for everyone to protect their identities. He wrote about everything that had happened from the time my mother died, to the time I had 'disappeared'. It was all in his own perspective of the events that occured. He wrote about how he felt about everything.

When I had read the manuscript for it, I was completely floored by it. When he had explained to me what had happened between us after he showed up in my office the first time, he only told me the basic version of what had occured. His book however, was a lot more detailed. It gave me a lot of insight as to what he went through, and how he dealt with it.

It was both touching, and heartbreaking at the same time.

I just knew it would be a bestseller.

He thanked me after he had calmed down a little, and we had a little celebration together later that night and into the morning.

The next two weeks flew by after that, and Edward seemed to go back to being his old self again.

As for me, I was doing okay. I had spent so many years without my dad and my friends in my life, that I guess I had just gotten used to it, but I still missed them. We had all stayed in touch through phone calls, text messages, emails, and we even Skyped with my dad a few times.

After awhile, those things just didn't seem like enough to stop the sadness I felt.

Then one day, I had an idea.

Edward and I were sitting on the sofa watching a movie with Riley when I brought it up.

"Hey, Edward?" I asked.

"Hmm?" he said, his attention focused on the movie.

"What do you think about moving back to Washington?"

He whipped his head in my direction and was now completely focused on me. "What?" he asked.

"I said, what do you think about moving back to Washington?" I repeated.

"Um, I don't know. Why?"

"Well," I began, "I got to thinking earlier, and I kind of had an idea." I paused.

"Go on." he urged.

I sighed. "We both miss everyone back in Forks, right?" He nodded. "Well, if that's the case, then why don't we just move back there?"

He looked at me like I had lost my mind. "Uh, how about the fact that you run a very large company and have friends here?" he answered.

As for my friends, we could always come back and visit them, or they could come and visit us. I took a deep breath and said, "And as far as the company goes, that's where my idea comes in."

"I'm listening."

"Ok, well, when I was still in college, James once told me how he wanted to open up another office, but he wanted it to be in Seattle. Unfortunately, the timing was never right and he couldn't find a place big enough for what he wanted."

Edward just sat there and waited for me to finish.

"I would really like to this for him. You know, kind of in his memory. And I think that now is the right time to do it."

"Why do you think that now is the right time?" asked Edward.

"Because I've been missing everyone back in Forks since we left. And besides, running a company this large is hard to do by myself. It would be easier on all of us to be closer to our families and friends, and it would be much easier for me to run a smaller office."

"If you were to run a new office, then who would run this one?"

"I already have the perfect people for the job. I was thinking that I would let my friend Carmen and her husband Eleazar run it. She and Eleazar have been working there just as long as I have, and I know that they are more than capable of running it." I explained.

"Okay." said Edward. "What are you going to do about finding a place for this office?"

I looked down at my lap. "I actually looked at some places online earlier today." I said sheepishly. "And I found the perfect place. All I need to do is fill out a bunch of paperwork, get Carmen and Eleazar on board, and find employees once we get the office ready."

Edward was quiet for a minute while he absorbed everything I told him.

"So, what do you think?" I asked.

"I think it's the perfect idea." he said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. In fact," he pulled me to him and wrapped his arms around me, "I think we should start looking for a house and a new preschool for Riley, right now."

I had the biggest smile on my face and I kissed him.

"Ok. Let's do it."

**A/N: So, what did you think about my idea for the subject of Edward's book? And what about Bella's idea for going back to Washington?**

**Also, I haven't gotten more than 4 reviews for a single chapter, so how about we try for 5 reviews for this one?**

**Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you soon! :)**


	31. Sing For Me

**A/N: Sorry for not posting a new chapter yesterday. I decided to take a break from writing and catch up on the previous season of True Blood. Then, I ended up finding a baby raccoon that was stuck in the dumpster in my apartment complex. I told one of the maintenance guys about it, and he put a ladder in it so it could get out. I went to check on it an hour later and it was still in there, so I decided to check on it after it had gotten dark, and it was gone. I guess the mom came back and got it.**

**Anam, I know you're probably disappointed that you didn't get a new chapter, so I hope this makes up for it. ;)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns**_** Twilight.**_

**Chapter 31. Sing For Me**

Life continued to move forward. Two weeks after I had told Edward about my idea, we purchased a house in Seattle, but we wouldn't be moving into it for another month.

Carmen and Eleazar had accepted my offer to run the Chicago office for me, but we still had to wait for some paperwork to get filed so it would be official. Until then, we had to wait.

During that time, Riley turned 3 years old. It was hard for me to believe that just 3 years ago, I brought this amazing child into the world. I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried a little about it. Edward and I had taken him to the Brookfield Zoo for his birthday, and he absolutely loved it. His favorite animals to see were the Mexican Gray Wolves. We had watched them run around through a large window, and it felt like we were actually part of the pack. It was really cool. We saw all of the other animals and by the time we left, we were all exhausted from walking around all day, but we had a lot of fun.

We had been so busy that week, that we had forgotten what day was going to be arriving soon.

**Two Weeks Later**

Today was extremely difficult for me. It was exactly one year ago today, that James died.

Edward tried his best to help me through it, and as much as I appreciated it, it wasn't helping me.

It seemed like all I did was cry all day. It had begun to upset Riley that I was crying so much, so Edward called Victoria and asked her if Riley could spend the night with her and explained to her why. She told him it was fine and that she would drop him off around noon the next day.

As the day wore on, I had gotten to the point where I just wanted to be left alone. I even asked Edward to sleep in one of the guest rooms because I was so upset. I holed myself up in my room and layed there crying.

I wasn't sure how long I had been crying when I thought I heard singing. I figured it was the radio, but when I realized I couldn't hear any music with the singing, I got really quiet so I could listen better.

_"When you close your eyes and go to sleep tonight,_

_I'll be right outside your door._

_Dreams will come and they'll take you away,_

_Let them bring you back to me."_

The more the voice kept singing, the more familiar it sounded. It was also making me fall asleep, so I didn't think too much about it.

_"And tomorrow when you wake, I'll be next to you,_

_The protection from the day._

_When the tears fall down your face like morning dew,_

_I'll be there to put a smile on your face,_

_And I'll say"_

I kept trying to fight off sleep, so I could hear the rest of the song, but I knew I would be alseep before it ended. The last thing I remembered hearing before I fell asleep was:

_"I don't wanna live this life without you,_

_I don't wanna spend the night without you._

_I don't wanna know what it's like,_

_I can't dream without you._

_I can't dream without you._

I woke up the next morning to the feeling of being watched. I opened my eyes to find Edward laying on his side, staring at me.

"Good morning, Love." said Edward.

"Good morning. What are you doing here?" I asked. "I thought I asked you to sleep in the guest room."

"You did."

"Then, why are you in here?"

He smirked at me. "I didn't want to spend the night alone."

That comment made me remember the singing I heard last night. I sat up quickly, and looked at him in shock. "It was you! You were the one I heard singing last night."

"Yeah. I sat outside your door and sang that song to you. It seemed kind of perfect for the moment. Once I finished the song, I checked in on you and found you asleep, so I decided to join you." he explained.

"I didn't know you could sing."

He chuckled at me. "I've always been good at it, but it's not something I do often."

I looked at him curiously. "Why not?"

He shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know. I just don't."

"Well, you should. It was beautiful. Did you write that?" I asked.

"No, I didn't." He smiled at me. "I may be able to write books, but writing music is a lot harder. That song is called 'Harlow's Song' by Good Charlotte."

"Well, even if you didn't write it, it was still pretty."

"Yeah, it is. Anyways, how are you feeling today?" asked Edward.

It was my turn to smile at him. "I'm still feeling really upset, but I'm much better now." I kissed him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now, come on. We need to get up. Victoria will be here with Riley soon."

"Okay." We both got up to get ready for the day and as we did, I asked, "Will you sing for me again sometime?"

Edward just smirked at me and chuckled again before walking out of the room. "We'll see."

Victoria dropped Riley off about 15 minutes later, and then we spent some time packing and watching movies, and tried to move on from the day before.

**A/N: So, was it good? The song Edward sings to Bella is called "Harlow's Song" by Good Charlotte. I'll put a link on my profile for it. You should really listen to it. It's really pretty.**

**Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you soon! :)**


	32. All Of Me

**A/N: Well, we're getting closer to the end, but we still have a few chapters left.**

**Anam, I liked your idea about Edward singing the song I used in the previous chapter again, but I don't think it's a good fit for that occasion. I'll think of something though. ;)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**. The song in this chapter is "All Of Me" by John Legend.**

**Chapter 32. All Of Me**

After Edward sang to me on the anniversary of James' death, our love for one another seemed to grow even more. It was wonderful.

Another wonder thing that happened, was that the paperwork finalizing the changes to Carmen and Eleazar's job positions had finally been filed. That meant we were finally able to move into our new house in Seattle.

A few days later, everything that we had planned to move into the new house was packed up and shipped there. Everything else would be staying in the penthouse for whenever we came back to Chicago to visit.

Before we knew it, we were back in Washington and moving forward yet again.

That was six months ago.

Things in Washington had been going good. I had opened up the new office just like James had always wanted to do, and in his memory, I had a large plaque made and dedicated to him to hang up in the office, so anyone who saw it would know that this new branch of Hunter Publishing Co. was his idea and dream come true.

Life only got better from there. Edward had decided to start a new book, but he refused to tell me what it was about. I had continued to nag him about it, but I eventually gave up when he wouldn't budge. Another good thing was that we had gotten Riley enrolled in a new preschool and he was just loving it. The new office was also doing well. We gained a lot of new clients and they kept on coming.

That led me to right now.

I had been so busy lately, that I hadn't had a whole lot of time to spend with Edward and Riley. When I talked about it with Edward, he told me that he wanted to have a date night and that Riley would be alright with a babysitter for a while. I had agreed with him and the next thing I knew, Alice was running around my bedroom like a tornado to help me find an outfit to wear for my date.

She had chosen a pretty dark blue dress and some silver heels for me to wear. I complained about the heels because of how easily it would be for me to trip in them, but she wasn't worried about it and told me that I would be fine.

As soon as she finished helping me with my makeup, Edward announced that he was ready to leave, and when Alice left, she took Riley with her to drop him off at the sitters.

When I came out of the room and saw Edward, I almost didn't want to leave. He looked hot. He was wearing a white button down shirt and black dress pants.

He saw me checking him out, and said with a smirk, "See something you like?"

"No. I see something I love."

"Good answer." Then he kissed me, but before it could get out of hand, he pulled back and said, "We should get going if we're going to make it to the restaurant on time."

I sighed. "Fine. If you insist."

"I do."

"Hmm. I like the way that sounds." I grinned at him.

"Oh yeah? I'll keep that in mind." he said as we walked to the car.

"You do that." I replied.

Edward winked at me. "Oh, I will."

As we drove to the restaurant, we talked about how our day had been, and I asked him about his book again, but we pulled up the restaurant before he could answer. I decided to let go for now and enjoy our date, but I made a mental note to talk to him about it later.

He led me into the restaurant, and we were seated right away. We took our time looking at the menu before we ordered. While we waited for our food, we talked about any and everything we could think of.

Our food came about 15 minutes later and we continued to talk in between bites. Once we were finished, Edward said, "I have another surprise for us tonight."

"What kind of surprise?" I asked.

Edward smirked at me. "Bella, it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, would it?"

I pouted. "No, I guess not."

"Cheer up. I think you're going to like this surprise."

"I better. You know how I feel about surprises." I grumbled.

He just chuckled at me. "Come on. Let's go."

We left the restaurant and drove for a bit before Edward pulled up outside of a small club. We got out and walked up to the bouncer who winked at Edward before letting us inside. I was actually surprised at what it was like inside. It wasn't one of those clubs full of writhing bodies and thumping dance music. It was more laid back and had a stage for live bands to play on.

I had been so busy admiring the atmosphere, that I didn't realize that Edward had stopped walking until I accidentally bumped into a large man.

"Oops, I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." I said.

When the man turned around, I gasped.

"Emmett?"

"Bella? What are you doing here?" he asked. Before I could answer, Edward walked up to him.

"Hey, Emmett." Edward turned to me and said, "Bella, I'm gonna go get us some drinks, stay here with Emmett." Then he walked off.

"Well, that was weird." said Emmett. "So, you didn't get a chance to answer my question."

"What question?"

"I asked what you were doing here."

"Oh. I'm on a date with Edward." I answered.

"A date? I thought you had to work tonight."

"Yes, a date. And what would make you think that I had to work?" I said, confused.

Emmett looked just as confused as I did. "Um, Edward told me you had to work, so he wanted to hang out with the rest of the gang."

"Wait, the rest of the gang is here too? Where?" I asked him.

"Yeah, they just went to get some drinks before you got here. Speaking of which, what the hell is taking them so long?"

"And where the hell is Edward? I don't see him anywhere." I said as I looked around the club.

Emmett looked around too. "I don't know, but I see Rosalie headed our way."

"Em, here's your drink."

"Thanks, babe. Look who's joined us." he nodded at me.

"Bella? I thought you were working tonight?"

"Um, no. I-"

"Guys! Look who we found." said Alice, interrupting me. She and Jasper were walking towards us with my father and Carlisle following behind them.

"Hi, Alice. Hello, Jasper." I greeted.

I turned towards my father and Carlisle. "Dad? Carlisle? What are you guys doing here?"

"Um, Edward asked us to come here." my dad said.

"What the hell is going on here? I'm supposed to be on a date. And once again, where the hell is Edward?" I asked.

Just as I finished asking that, the lights in the club dimmed, and the light on the stage lit up.

We all gasped. Standing on the stage in front of the microphone, was Edward.

Once he had everyone's attention, he said, "The song I'm about to sing is called "All of Me" by John Legend. I would like to dedicate this song to my beautiful Bella." And then the music started and he began to sing:

_What would I do without your smart mouth?_

_Drawing me in, and you kicking me out_

_You've got my head spinning, no kidding, I can't pin you down_

_What's going on in that beautiful mind?_

_I'm on your magical mystery ride_

_And I'm so dizzy, don't know what hit me, but I'll be alright_

_My head's underwater,_

_But I'm breathing fine_

_You're crazy and I'm out of my mind_

I was completely stunned. I think the other's were too because they were so quiet. The next verse had me in tears.

_'Cause all of me_

_Loves all of you_

_Love your curves and all your edges_

_All your perfect imperfections_

_Give your all to me_

_I'll give my all to you_

_You're my end and my beginning_

_Evenwhen I lose, I'm winning_

_'Cause I give you all of me_

_And you give me all of you, ohoh_

Edward finished the rest of the song, and when he was done, he looked at me and asked me to come up to the stage.

I made my way up to the stage, and when I reached him, he got down on one knee and took my hands in his.

"One year ago today, I walked into your office and saw you for the first time in six years, and you didn't want anything to do with me, at first. I didn't blame you for that either, I deserved it after what I had put you through years before. We talked about everything, and you told me how you had recently lost someone you loved dearly, and I couldn't help but feel like I needed to be there for you.

And I was. You gave me a chance even though you were hurting and you let me be a part of your life, as well as your son's. You let me into your lives and I will forever be grateful that you forgave me for the hurt I caused you in the past. I gained an amazing girlfriend and son when you did. I love you and Riley so much, that it hurts.

I've already given all of myself to you. I would really love it if you would give all of yourself to me.

Isabella Marie Hunter, will you marry me?"

He pulled out a ring and waited for my answer.

"Yes." I said with tears streaming down my face. "Of course I'll marry you."

**A/N: I bet you didn't see that one coming. How did I do? Let me know what you think of this chapter.**

**Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you soon! :)**


	33. Waiting

**A/N: Since we are getting close to the end, I've been thinking about making an important change to story. I have decided that I don't like the title of it because it doesn't really match up with much of the story, so I am going to change it. I've never had that happen to a story I've read, so I'm not sure if that will affect your Favorites or Following options, so I think you should just follow me as an author, so you can still find my story.**

**I'm changing the name from "They Called It Stockholm Syndrome, I Called It Love" to "The Broken Heart Still Beats." I'll change the title of the story when I post the next chapter to give you all a heads up.**

**Anam, I love your ideas. ;)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight.**_

**Chapter 33. Waiting**

After I said 'Yes' to Edward, everyone inside the club started clapping and cheering. We walked off the stage with our hands entwined towards our families.

They all hugged us and congratulated us before ordering more drinks to celebrate. Edward and I drank sodas instead of alcohol because we wanted to be sober so we could go home and celebrate some more by ourselves.

We stayed for another hour before heading home. Riley was going to be staying overnight at the sitter's, so we planned on using our time alone to celebrate our engagement over and over again.

We woke up the next morning happy and thoroughly satisfied from the night before. We got dressed and went and got Riley and took him home.

We tried to explain to him that we were getting married, but I think we just confused him. He's only 3 years old, so I suppose that he thought that being married means that a mommy and a daddy live together and love each other. Well, we've been doing that for awhile now, so I guess I can see how it confused him.

We gave up trying to get him to understand, so we let him go watch tv while the two of us tried to figure out a date for the wedding. After an hour of not being able to decide on one, we finally called Alice for her opinion.

Big mistake.

Ten minutes later, we found ourselves surrounded by wedding stuff. Alice had brought over a bunch of information regarding wedding invitations, floral arrangements, themes, and other things.

We had decided to have the wedding in May, and since right now it's September, that meant that we had 8 months to plan the wedding. We had given Alice the job of being our wedding planner, so we knew that we were in good hands. All we had to do was pick out what we wanted and wish for time to go faster.

8 Months had passed.

During that time, we had celebrated my birthday, Christmas, Edward's birthday, Riley's birthday, the anniversary of James' death, and a few other holidays in between.

And now, it was time for Edward and I to get married.

**A/N: I know it was short, but I hope it was okay.**

**Once again, I'm changing the title of this story when I post the next chapter. The new title will be "The Broken Heart Still Beats."**

**Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you soon! :)**


	34. The Wedding

**A/N: I'm not going to waste much time with a note. So, here's the wedding. I'm sorry if there won't be a whole lot of detail, but I haven't been to a wedding since I was really young and don't remember much about it. I hope it turns out okay. Just imagine how it was in the movie.**

**Anam, I'm glad you liked my idea about doing some outtakes for this story. ;)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 34. The Wedding**

I was really nervous.

Today, I was going to become Mrs. Isabella Cullen.

Edward and I had decided to have the wedding in his father's backyard. Alice had it decorated with tons of white flowers everywhere. It was beautiful. We had invited all of our friends from Chicago, as well as what seemed like the entire town of Forks. We even invited Esme to come, but we didn't know if she would show up or not. I know that as a mother myself, I would want to be there to see my son get married, but knowing how she felt about me, I wouldn't put it past her not to show.

I didn't want to worry too much about it though. I had other things to worry about.

I was currently standing in front of a long mirror in my dress while Alice and Rosalie helped me with my makeup and hair, when we heard a knock on the door. Rosalie had just finished with my hair, so she got up and answered the door. It was my father.

"Wow, Bella. You look absolutely beautiful."

I smiled at him. "Thanks, Dad. What's up?"

"I have something for you, actually." He held up a small jewelry box. "This belonged to your mother, and I thought you would like to wear it."

He opened it up and showed me what was inside. Nestled inside the box, was an antique hair comb that was decorated with small sapphires.

"I love it. Of course I'll wear it." I went to hug him, but Alice had other ideas.

"Hey! Don't ruin my masterpiece. You guys can hug later." She took the box from my dad and handed it to Rose. "Here, since you did her hair, you can put this in so it doesn't get messed up."

Rosalie did as she asked, and said, "There! All done."

"Bella? Just give us a few minutes to get seated and then you can come down." said Alice.

"Got it." I replied. With that, she and Rosalie made their way out to the yard. Edward and I had decided early on that we didn't want to have bridesmaids or groomsmen, so it was just going to be me, Edward, and Riley, up there with the priest. It was Riley's job to hand us the rings.

A few minutes had passed and my dad looked at me and said, "Well, are you ready to walk down the aisle?"

I nodded at him, and as he took my arm in his, I told him, "Whatever you do, don't let me fall down."

He smiled at me with glassy eyes, and said, "Never. Now let's go. Your husband-to-be is probably wondering what's taking so long."

"Well, I certainly don't want to keep him waiting too much longer."

We made our way down to the yard and before I reached the aisle, I took a moment to look around at all of the people who attended, and was shocked to see Esme sitting in the front row next to Carlisle.

They were completely ignoring each other.

Once my shock wore off, I looked at the two most important people in my life standing next to each other. Edward looked amazing in a black tux, and Riley looked so adorable in his matching one.

The music began to play, and my father walked me down the aisle. The whole walk down, the only person I looked at was Edward. He stood there with a smile on his face and his full of pure love and happiness.

When we reached the end, my father handed me to Edward and then took a seat in the front.

In a loud voice, the priest began to speak. "Today, we are here to witness the joining of Edward Anthony Masen Cullen and Isabella Marie Hunter in holy matrimony before friends and family."

He asked, "Will the two of you please join hands."

We did as he asked, and then he looked at Edward. "Do you, Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, take Isabella Marie Hunter, to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, as long as you both shall live?"

Edward looked into my eyes. "I do."

Then the priest look to me. "Do you, Isabella Marie Hunter, take Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, as long as you both shall live?"

I looked into Edward's eyes. "I do."

"You may now exchange rings." said the priest. Riley handed the rings to us, and we slid them on each others fingers. "I now pronounce you, husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

And then we shared our first kiss as husband and wife, as people clapped and cheered for us.

**A/N: How did I do? The next chapter will be about the after party and the honeymoon.**

**Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you soon! :)**


	35. The Mother-In-Law

**A/N: I know I said that this chapter would have the after party and honeymoon in it, but I've decided to stretch it out a bit, so this is only part of the after party. Plus, I needed a little more time to think about how I would write those, so I'm giving you a small part of it to keep you happy.**

**Also, one of my frequent reviewers wanted Esme to make an appearance, so this is it.**

**Anam, thanks for always reviewing. You are awesome. ;)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns**_** Twilight.**_

**Chapter 35. The Mother-In-Law**

After we said our nuptials, Edward and I made our way over to our friends and family. We chatted for a bit while people made their way over to us to congratulate us, including Esme.

She asked if she could talk to us away from the others for a few minutes. We had agreed to listen to her to be polite. Once we were far enough away from the others, she began to speak.

"First off, lets get one thing straight, okay? I'm not here to support you two. I don't approve of your marriage, and I probably never will." she said.

The smiles that were on our faces just a few minutes earlier were now gone completely.

"Then why are you here, Esme?" asked Edward with a hint of annoyance.

"Do not call me that. I am still your mother and you will address me as such." Esme chastised.

Edward glared at her. "You lost that right a long time ago. Now, why are you here?"

"Why do you think I'm here?" she asked him.

"Well, we thought you might have been here to apologize for all the shit you've done, but obviously, we're wrong."

Esme looked at Edward like he was crazy. "Why on Earth would I apologize? I'm not sorry for anything I've done. I'm here so I don't damage my reputation any further than it has been. After all, what kind of mother would I be to miss my own son's wedding?"

I didn't want to listen to anything else Esme had to say, so I said, "Esme, I think you should leave. This is _our_ day, and I will not have you ruin it."

If looks could kill, I'd be dead right about now. Esme replied smugly, "And just what are you going to do about it, Bella?"

My father must have noticed how upset we were, and got close enough to hear what was going on because all of a sudden, we heard, "She won't do anything, but I will if you don't leave right now. I can have you arrested for tresspassing."

Esme looked at Charlie in disbelief. "How on Earth am I tresspassing?"

"Well, for starters, you weren't on the invite list." I replied.

"And secondly, my father kicked you out of the house." added Edward.

"Sounds like you're tresspassing to me." said Charlie. "Are you going to leave by yourself, or am I gonna have to arrest you?"

"That won't be necessary, I'll leave. For now." Esme looked at all of us once more before turning around and leaving.

Charlie turned to us. "You two alright?"

We nodded. "We're fine. What's a wedding without some kind of family drama, huh?" joked Edward.

We all chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you're right." I told him.

"So, I have no idea what that was all about, but I expect an explanation from you two after you get back from your honeymoon. Got it?" said Charlie.

"Got it, Dad."

"Yes, sir."

Charlie nodded. "Well, okay then. We should head on back over to the rest of the group. I'm sure they all want to know what just happened. Besides, the first dance is about to begin shortly anyways."

"Of course. We don't want to miss that, do we?" replied Edward with a smile.

"No, we certainly don't. Besides, I'm curious as to what song Alice chose for us to dance to." I smiled back at him.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see." Then he kissed me. Hard. As the kiss deepened, we had completely forgotten that my father was standing next to us until he cleared his throat and spoke up.

"Uh, guys? Why don't you two save that for the honeymoon?" he grimaced. "I know you're both adults and married now, but Bells, you're still my daughter and I really don't need to see that." Edward and I grinned at him.

As he walked away, we heard him mutter, "Damn, I wish I still drank. I could really use a few right now."

Edward and I started laughing and we made our way back to the rest of the group.

**A/N: I know it was short, but at least I gave you something, right? Well, Esme's a piece of work, huh? You just gotta love a protective Charlie. **

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**See you soon! :)**


	36. The After Party

**A/N: Sorry I didn't post a new chapter yesterday. I ended up having a lot to do, and by the time I was done, I was too tired to write. Also, if the dances and dinner stuff is out of order, it's my fault. It's been a really long time since I've been to a wedding, and I don't remember much. I think the dinner comes first, and then the dances, but let's be real, if you've just eaten, you'd most likely be too full to dance afterwards. So, I'm having the dances before the dinner.**

**Anam, I know you were probably looking forward to a new chapter, so I hope you like this one. ;)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight.**_

**Chapter 36. The After Party**

Once we reached the rest of group, we explained to them what had happened with Esme. They were all upset about the whole thing, and we told them not to worry about it and just enjoy the rest of the night.

We had just finished talking to them when the DJ Alice had hired announced, "Okay, ladies and gentlemen, it's time for the first dance. Edward, Bella, please make your way to the dance floor."

As soon as we stepped onto the dance floor, the DJ began to play "I Do" by 98 Degrees.

Edward pulled me close and put one arm around waist while holding my hand with the other. As the song played, we stared into each other's eyes as we gently swayed to the music, lost in our own little world. When the song ended, we kissed and said 'I love you' to each other, as the crowd clapped and cheered for us.

The DJ then announced that it was time for the Father/Daughter dance. Charlie made his way over to us, and Edward walked over to the sidelines to watch. As the DJ played "I Loved Her First" by Heartland, my dad and I quietly talked while we danced.

"I'm really proud of you, Bells. You've been through so much, and I know I was horrible to you after your mom died, and I'll always regret that, but I'm really happy we've fixed things."

"I know, Dad. Me too."

"I've missed out on so much in your life. I'm just glad I could be here this time around. I know you're a grown woman, and you have your own family, but to me, you'll always be my little girl." he said.

"I know that, too. I love you, Dad."

"I love you too, Bells."

The song ended and the DJ began to play some other music as the everyone else made their way to the dance floor. Edward and I took turns dancing with a bunch of people. We even danced with Riley a few times. It was fun.

After awhile, we had decided to take a break from dancing, and just stopped and talked with our friends from Chicago for a bit. I was getting thirsty, so I excused myself to get some water. When I got back to our friends, Edward wasn't there anymore. I looked around, but I couldn't see him anywhere.

All of a sudden, I heard, "Looking for someone?" I turned around, and standing behind me was Edward with a big smile on his face.

"Not anymore." I replied with a grin. "Where did you go?"

"I had to talk to someone real quick."

"Oh really? Who?" I asked.

"You'll find out in a moment."

The song that had been playing ended, and the DJ said, "This next song is a special request from Edward. Bella, this song is for you." I didn't recognize the song at first, but as the song played on, I realized that it was "Harlow's Song" by Good Charlotte. It was the same song that Edward sang to me on the first anniversary of James' death.

Edward took my hand and led me back to the dance floor where he held me close as we proceeded to dance. When it ended, Edward asked, "Did you like your surprise?"

"Yeah, it was really sweet. Thank you."

He grinned at me. "You're welcome. That song is special to us, so I wanted to have it played tonight."

Before I could reply, a bunch of movement caught our attention. The staff that Alice had hired had begun to bring the food out for dinner. "Looks like it's time to eat. Why don't we make our way over to the food before Emmett decides to eat it all." said Edward.

I chuckled. "I wouldn't worry too much about that. Knowing Alice, she probably ordered enough food to feed an army, which is a good thing considering that we invited some of Charlie's friends from La Push. Have you seen those guys eat? I'm surprised they don't explode from the amount of food they can consume." I joked.

"I believe you. Now let's get some food." said Edward, and we made our way to the tables of food.

Dinner had been absolutely wonderful. People laughed and talked, and overall had a good time. We waited for an hour after dinner had ended to cut the wedding cake. It had four tiers on it and each one had a different type of cake and filling.

Once everyone had a chance to get a piece of cake, we mingled for a little while, and then it was time for me to toss the bouquet into the crowd of single ladies.

I turned around so I was facing away from the women, and I closed my eyes as I tossed it behind me. There were sounds of laughter and clapping that followed it. When I turned around, my friend Victoria was standing in the middle of a bunch of women holding the flowers.

After the excitement settled down, it was time for Edward remove and toss my garter into the crowd of single men. I don't think I've ever blushed so much before. I sat down in a chair as he crawled underneath my dress, and slowly pulled the garter down my leg with his teeth. I was so glad that my skirt was really big, so nobody could see what he was doing. Once he got it down far enough, he pulled it off and flung it into the crowd, where it was caught by Jacob Black.

Before we knew it, it was time for us to start saying goodbye to our guests and family. We had a flight to catch to take us to our destination for the honeymoon. I say 'destination' because Edward refused to tell me where we were going. All I knew was that we were going to be gone for three weeks.

Being away from our family was going to be hard, but being away from Riley was going to be even harder. He was going to stay with Rosalie and Emmett while we were away because they had more time to spend with him than the others. Before we left, we hugged him and kissed him and promised to call him everyday while we were gone.

Everyone told us to have a good time, and we made our way to the limo that would take us to the airport.

**A/N: Was it okay? If not, I'll come back to it after I finish the story and work on it a bit more. Also, the honeymoon is up next.**

**Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you soon! :)**


	37. Isle Esme

**A/N: Sorry for not posting a new chapter again. I've been really busy again. To make up for it, I've decided to add a tiny hint of lemon in here. It won't be too graphic or very long though. Like I said, it's just a hint. I've mentioned before that I've never written a lemon before, so this is the closest you'll get from me in this story.**

**Anam, we are nearing the end soon. I think there might be 4 more chapters left. :(**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight.**_

**Chapter 37. Isle Esme**

The limo had taken us to the airport where we caught a flight to Brazil. Once we got there, Edward and I went to Rio De Janiero. We spent a little bit of time there before Edward took me to the docks where a boat was waiting for us. Edward helped me climb in and then did so himself.

"Edward?"

"Hmm."

"Do you know how to drive this boat?"

Edward looked at me. "Of course, I do."

"Okay, just checking."

Edward started the boat. "Are you ready to go to our final destination?"

"No. What about our luggage?"

Edward grinned at me. "It's all been taken care of." I looked at him suspiciously. "While we were enjoying ourselves earlier, I had our things taken to where we'll be staying. Now, are you ready to go?"

"Yes." I replied. And with that, Edward started the engine, and we took off.

A little while later, we arrived at a beautiful island. Edward docked the boat and we both got out. We held each others hands while he led me across the beach to a large house. He opened up the doors and I as I was about to walk inside, I let out a surprised yelp as Edward picked me up bridal style.

"Edward, what are you doing?" I said with a chuckle.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm carrying you across the threshold."

"I got that, but why?"

"It's tradition." he answered.

"Aren't you supposed to carry me across the threshold of our first home together?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, but we've already been living in our first house together for a while now, so it doesn't count. Therefore, I'm carrying you across this threshold." he joked.

"Well okay then. Please continue."

"With pleasure." He carried me inside and set me down. I looked around and took in my surroundings. This house was absolutely beautiful.

"Edward, what is this place?"

"This, is Isle Esme." Edward said with a smile. "My father bought this island for my mother as a wedding present. He's letting us use it. We'll be the only ones on the island, so we don't have to worry about being bothered or interrupted."

"Seriously? We'll be completely alone here?"

"Yes, for the most part anyways. Kaure and Gustavo will come here every few days to bring fresh food and to help with anything else we need done. They've been doing this for my parents for years whenever they came here. They're actually the ones I had bring our things here." he explained.

I looked at him coyly. "So, does this mean we're all alone right now?"

Edward's eyes grew dark with lust and hunger. He nodded. "Yes." he replied, his voice filled with need.

I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. "Good. I think we should make our marriage official, don't you Mr. Cullen?"

He picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. "I think you're right, Mrs. Cullen." Then Edward kissed me and carried me into the bedroom.

**4 Hours Later**

"Oh, God! Edward...I'm...so...close." I panted.

"Me too, baby." grunted Edward. He sped up his thrusts and placed a hand between us and rubbed me.

"Come...on...Love." he panted. "Let go for me."

My whole body began to shake as I got closer to my release. Edward thrusted a few more times before I screamed, "Edward!" as I came undone around him.

Edward continued to thrust a few more times before he shouted my name as he found his own release. He collapsed on top of me before rolling to the side and pulling me close to him. "That..was..amazing." he said out of breath.

"So were the other five times we did that tonight." I said to him.

He chuckled. "I agree." Edward pulled away from me and I whimpered at the loss. "I'll be right back. I'm just gonna get something to clean us up with."

He came back a minute later and wiped us off before tossing the towel in the hamper.

"Thanks." I said with a yawn.

"You're welcome." he yawned back. "I think we wore each other out." Edward said with a smile. "I think we should get some sleep."

I hummed in response. He climbed back into bed and wrapped his arms around me. "Goodnight, Mrs. Cullen. I love you."

"I love you too, Mr. Cullen." That was the last thing I remember before falling asleep in my husband's arms.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the little hint of lemon I gave you. ;)**

**Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you soon! :)**


	38. Back To Reality

**A/N: This chapter is going to be kind of short.**

**Anam, I loved your review. I'm happy to know I did a good job with the little slice of lemon I wrote. ;)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns**_** Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 38. Back To Reality**

Our time on Isle Esme went by faster than we thought it would.

During those three weeks, Edward and I had a lot of fun. We hung out on the beach, went swimming, explored the island, went sight-seeing on the mainland, and Edward even taught me how to play chess. When we weren't doing any of those things, we were having lots and lots of sex.

During one extremely passionate round of sex, Edward even managed to break the bed. We're not even sure how he managed to do so because we were so focused on each other, that we didn't even notice what had happened until the next morning.

We ordered a new bed and thankfully, we didn't break that one.

When the time came to go back home, I almost didn't want to leave, but Edward promised that we would eventually come back here, so that cheered me up a bit. I was also really excited to be going back home because we had both missed Riley a lot.

Once we were back in Washington, we went straight home and caught up on our rest, and then Rosalie and Emmett brought Riley over, and left to give us some time together.

The next day, we met up with the rest of the family and told them all about the fun we had, minus the sex of course. That would just be weird.

A few weeks had gone by and everything had gone back to normal. Or so we thought.

I was woken up one morning by the sudden urge to be sick. Luckily, I made it to the bathroom just in time to throw up. The sound of me getting sick woke up Edward, who rushed into the bathroom to see if I was okay. After a few minutes, I felt a bit better, but I stayed home from work just in case I got sick again.

I figured I had just gotten the flu and that it would go away in a few days, but when I continued to get sick, Edward finally made me go to the doctor.

Turns out, I didn't have the flu.

I was pregnant.

**A/N: I know this was short, but I had a really hard time trying to figure out how to write this one. If it's not very good, I'll come back and change some things once this story is finished.**

**Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you soon! :)**


	39. Breaking The News

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a few days. I've been watching the shark movie marathons on Syfy. This is just a short chapter.**

**Anam, Thank you for sticking with me this far. :)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns**_** Twilight.**_

**Chapter 39. Breaking The News**

Well, it appears that Edward and I made a honeymoon baby. Now, all I have to do is tell him the good news, but how?

On my way out of the doctor's office, I noticed a cute little baby boutique a couple stores down. I decided to check it out.

I walked inside and was stunned by the sheer amount of stuff this place had. It had everything from clothes, toys, and furniture, to novelty items.

I was walking down an aisle, when something caught my attention. It was a mug that said 'This Guy Is Going To Be A Daddy' on it.

It was the perfect gift to give to Edward as a way to tell him the good news. I took the mug up to the register, paid for it, and went home to wrap it up.

As soon as I got home, I looked around for a box to put the mug in. Once I found it, I found some wrapping paper and tape, and proceeded to wrap it up. I put it in the kitchen so I would have it near me while I was making dinner.

Edward came home with Riley about 20 minutes later. He got Riley set up in front of the tv and then came out into the kitchen.

"Hi, Love. How was your doctor's appointment?" he asked as he sat down at the table.

"It was good. I'm going to be fine."

"That's good. What was it? The flu?"

I smiled at him. "Yeah, something like that. Oh! I almost forgot. I got you something." I grabbed the gift off the counter and handed it to him.

"What's this?"

"If you open it, you'll find out." I chuckled.

I watched as Edward slowly unwrapped the present and then opened the box. He lifted the mug out of the box and held it up to read. "This guy is going to be a daddy." he read out loud. As the words sunks in, Edward set the mug back down onto the table. He looked at me with a huge smile on his face. "Is it true? Are you really pregnant?"

I grinned at Edward. "Yeah, it's true. I'm about 8 weeks along right now." Edward stood up and walked over to me and gave me a very big hug and a kiss.

"Oh my God! I'm really going to be a father. This is wonderful. I'm just so happy. When can we tell everyone?"

I laughed at how excited he was. "We can tell them at the 4th of July party your dad is hosting next week. That way we can just tell everyone at once." I suggested.

"Sounds good to me." He kissed me. "I can't wait."

**A/N: Okay, so I need help trying to pick a baby name. I'm not sure yet, if I want the baby to be a boy or girl, so if you have any suggestions, just leave me a review with a girls name and a boys name.**

**Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you soon! :)**


	40. Big News

**A/N: I know I said there would only be a few chapters left, but I decided to add an extra chapter.**

**Anam, we've got 3 more chapters to go. :(**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight.**_

**Chapter 40. Big News**

A few days before the 4th of July party, I had a doctor's appointment. Edward was so excited to go with me.

We had arrived at the doctor's office, and after waiting for about 10 minutes, the doctor was ready to see us.

She introduced herself as Dr. Gerandy. She was about 40 years old and very nice. She asked us a bunch of questions and answered any that we had for her before she started the exam.

She had me expose my stomach and poured some gel on it before moving a wand across it.

She was quiet as she watched the monitor. "Well, everything seems to be fine. Would you like to hear the baby's heartbeat?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yes please."

"Alright, you'll hear a whooshing sound in just a moment." She pushed a few buttons and all of a sudden the entire room filled with sound.

"Wow. This is absolutely amazing." said Edward, with tears in his eyes.

I grabbed his hand and held it. "We made that." I said in awe. Even though I've had a baby before, it's still an amazing thing to experience.

Edward and I were in our own little bubble for a minute before it burst.

"Hmm." said Dr. Gerandy, as she was stared intently at the screen.

"What?" I asked. "What do you see? Is something wrong?"

"Calm down. Nothing is wrong." She smiled at us. "In fact, it looks like you guys are lucky."

"Why are we lucky?" asked Edward.

"It appears you two are having twins." replied Dr. Gerandy. "Congratulations!"

"Twins?" Edward and I asked at the same time.

Dr. Gerandy nodded. "Yep, both of their hearts are beating at the same time, so I didn't catch it at first. Everything looks great though." She wiped off my stomach and stood up. "I'm going to fill out some paperwork real quick and then we'll schedule you for your next appointment. I'll be right back." She walked out of the room and we were left alone for a few minutes before she came back.

After we scheduled our next appointment, we left the doctor's office and headed home to let the news sink in.

**A/N: I know it was another short chapter, but I don't know much about being pregnant because I have no experience in that matter. If I made any mistakes, they are my fault.**

**Also, I need some more baby names. You don't have to leave an actual review, but if you could leave me 1 girl name and 1 boy name, I'd really appreciate it. I haven't decided what the genders of the twins are going to be, so I'd like names to help me decide.**

**Only 1 person left me names last chapter, so please give me a few more to choose from.**

**Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you soon! :)**


	41. 4th of July

**A/N: Just 1 more chapter after this one and then the epilogue.**

**Here's another shout out to my friend Anam. I love getting reviews from her. ;)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight.**_

**Chapter 41. 4th of July**

Once the shock of us having twins disappeared, Edward and I were really excited about it. We hadn't told Riley yet because we didn't want him saying anything about it at the party before we were ready to announce the big news.

It was now the day of the 4th of July party, and we had just pulled into Carlisle's driveway. We were running a bit late because I had a difficult time with my morning sickness earlier. The driveway was already full, so it looked like we were the last ones to arrive.

We rang the doorbell, but nobody answered. Music could be heard coming from the backyard, so we assumed that no one heard us and walked to the back of the house.

Everyone was so busy doing stuff, that they didn't notice us right away. Alice and Rosalie were sitting on some lounge chairs talking with drinks in their hands, and my dad and Carlisle were sitting at a picnic table sipping on some beers while watching Emmett and Jasper play some kind of card game.

As we made our way over to the picnic table, they finally noticed us.

"Hey. We've been wondering where you guys have been." said Charlie.

"Sorry about that. We overslept." I told them.

"Well, all that matters is that you three are here now." said Carlisle with a smile on his face. "Would you guys like something to drink? There's a bunch of different stuff in the cooler over by the table."

"Sure, thanks." said Edward. He walked over to the cooler and grabbed a beer for himself, a water for me, and a juice box for Riley.

He walked back over to us and set our drinks down in front of us. "Thank you." I said.

"Your welcome." he said as he sat down. I picked up my water bottle and took a drink from it.

Emmett looked at the bottle in my hand and said, "What's with the water? It's the 4th of July. It's not as fun if you don't have some kind of alcohol in your system." he joked.

Everyone turned around and looked at me.

I didn't plan on telling them I was pregnant again until a little while later, so I told him, "I ate something last night that didn't really agree with me, so I don't want to risk upsetting my stomach again."

Emmett frowned. "Well that sucks."

I shrugged. "It's okay. I'll be fine."

Satisfied with my explanation, everybody turned back to what they were doing, and Edward leaned over and whispered into my ear, "That was a close call. When do you want to tell them?"

"I was thinking we'd tell them after we eat, before the fireworks start." I whispered back.

Edward nodded. "Sounds good." he said.

For the next couple of hours, we all talked, and played games, and just had a bunch of fun until the food arrived. Carlisle ordered a couple of pizzas for us to eat.

After we had finished eating and everyone's stomachs had settled, Edward and I decided it was time to tell the family the good news.

They were all talking, so Edward stood up, and cleared his throat to get their attention. "Um, can I have everyone's attention please?" All the talking stopped and all eyes were on him. "Bella and I have something important to tell all of you."

I stood up next to him and took his hand in mine. "I'm pregnant."

They were all so happy for us.

"How far along are you?" asked Rosalie.

"I'm about 9 weeks." I replied.

Alice bounced on her feet and clapped her hands. "Oh, a honeymoon baby. How sweet."

"Congratulations, you two." said Jasper.

"Yeah. Congrats!" said Emmett.

"Wait!" shouted Edward. "There's more news."

My dad and Carlisle and everyone else looked at us in surprise. "There's more?" they asked.

Edward and I had big smiles on our faces. "We're having twins!"

To say they were surprised was an understatement. They were ecstatic. More congratulations went around along with lots of hugging and talking.

A few minutes later, the fireworks began, and we watched them until they were done.

The night wore on, and it was soon time for us to go home. We said our goodbyes to our very happy and excited family, and went home.

I had a feeling that we would be seeing much more of our family in the next 7 months.

**A/N: So, how was it?**

**I'm not sure if I'll be able to update again this week. I have to have surgery on the 6th to have my wisdom teeth removed, so I'm going to be in a lot of pain. I'll do my best to get you another chapter, but I'm not promising anything. Sorry. :(**

**Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you soon! :)**


	42. Here Come The Twins

**A/N: Hey, everyone. I'm sorry for the long wait. I had surgery 2 days ago to get all of my wisdom teeth removed, and I've been in a lot of pain, so I've been unable to do much.**

**Also, I don't know much about giving birth, so I'm not going to go into too much detail.**

**This is the last chapter before the epilogue.**

**As usual, I'm giving a shout out to my friend Anam. She loves my story, and I love reading her reviews and thoughts. ;)**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 42. Here Come The Twins**

The next 7 months passed by quickly.

Edward has been so wonderful to me. He put up with my crazy mood swings and never once complained about having to wake up in the middle of the night to get me whatever kind of food I craved. And of course, he's been to every doctor's appointment I had.

Speaking of doctor's appointments, I was very surprised when he didn't want to find out the genders of the twins. He wanted to be surprised.

I'll be honest with you, I really wanted to know, but because I love him, I was willing to wait to find out too.

That was about 2 months ago.

I had a feeling that today was the big day. I had been having some small contractions throughout the day, but I had originally thought that they were Braxton Hicks contractions, because I had had some a few times this week already.

The only difference this time is that they kept getting stronger.

I was currently sitting on the sofa watching tv while Edward worked in his office.

"Edward!" I yelled.

He came running downstairs into the living room. "Are you okay?" he asked out of breath.

"I think it's time. Help me up off the couch." Edward grabbed my hands and pulled me to my feet.

"What do I do now?" asked Edward, nervously.

"Edward, calm down. We still have a bit of time. Okay?" Another contraction hit. "Go get Riley and bring him down here, and then go put my bags in the car, and then come back inside and get us."

He nodded. "Okay, got it!" And he ran off to go do those things.

10 minutes later, we were all in the car and on our way to the hospital. We had called Dr. Gerandy to let her know what was going on, and she told us she would meet us there. Then we called our family to tell them I was in labor.

Everything after we got to the hospital was a bit of a blur. I was taken to a room, given a gown to wear, and checked up on by Dr. Gerandy.

According to her, I wasn't fully dilated yet, so I still had some time to kill.

As the hours went by, a nurse came by to see how I was doing. I was in a lot of pain, and she asked me if I wanted an epidural. I accepted.

A little while later, Dr. Gerandy came by again to check my progress, and told me I was now fully dilated and ready to meet my children.

Edward was with me the entire time. I gotta say, Edward in scrubs is really hot.

After much cursing, pushing, apologizing, and more pushing, our first baby was out. It is a girl.

Then the process started all over again, until our second baby was born. This time it was a boy.

I was so exhausted, I fell asleep. The first thing I saw as I woke up, was Edward sitting in a rocking chair holding our daughter. Her twin brother was sleeping in a bassinet next to them.

"Hey." I whispered, tiredly.

Edward grinned and slowly walked over to me while holding our daughter. "Hi. How are you feeling?"

"I feel tired and sore."

"Well, I hope you're not too tired right now. We still need to give them names."

"I like Carlie Renee Cullen for her. And I like Masen Charles Cullen for him."

Edward kissed me on the cheek. "I love them. They are perfect."

**A/N: Sorry again for the delay in posting. I've just been in a lot of pain, and it's not easy to type with one hand while the other is holding an icepack to your face. **

**The epiloque will be next, but once again, I'm not sure when I will get it posted. Hopefully it will get done sometime this week.**

**Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following.**

**See you soon! :)**


	43. The Epilogue

**A/N: Well, here it is. The Epilogue. There won't be any dialogue between characters in this one. Sorry, but that's just how I imagined it. It's also not going to be very long.**

**I just wanted to thank everyone who has reviewed, followed, and favorited, this story. I had a lot of fun writing it, which is strange because before I started writing this, I didn't even like to write. Oh well, I guess the writing bug bit me. LOL. **

**Anam, thank you so much for your thoughts, ideas, and reviews. I really hope you stick with me when I start my new story. :)**

**I haven't decided what I'm going to do for a new story yet, but I hope to have something by next week.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns **_**Twilight**_**.**

**Chapter 43. The Epilogue**

**5 Years Later**

It's hard to believe all the things that can happen in the course of a few years.

It's been 5 years since Edward, Riley, and myself, welcomed the twins into the world. Carlie and Masen are now 5 years old, and the perfect combination of us. They both have Edward's bronze colored hair and my brown eyes.

Masen is more like me though. He has my quiet personality and calmness.

Carlie though, takes after her father. While she's most often very energetic, she also has her moments when she's laid back and relaxed.

Riley is almost 10 years old now. He looks and acts more like James everyday. He's picked up some of Edward's mannerisms, but his personality definitely takes after James. He's easy going and loves to make people happy, especially his siblings. He loves being a big brother. He still loves rock music too. I swear, that kid is going to be a rockstar when he's older.

Alice and Jasper are doing well. Alice still owns her own shop, and Jasper still teaches. They now have a 2 year old daughter named Senna. She looks just like Alice, but with blonde hair and blue eyes. Unfortunately for Jasper, she takes after her mother. She is the most hyper toddler I have ever seen.

Emmett and Rosalie are doing good too, despite not having any luck trying to have kids. They have been trying for a while, and even though they are able to, it just hasn't happened for them yet. But for the most part, they are happy.

Charlie is doing great. He's still the Chief of Police, but he's no longer single or living alone. Three years ago, he started dating Sue Clearwater, and a year and a half later, they got married. I'm very happy for them. They really love each other. And plus, I gained a brother and sister through Seth and Leah, Sue's children from her previous marriage to Harry Clearwater.

Carlisle also managed to find love too. Two years after Edward and I got married, his divorce with Esme was completed. He is now dating a nurse named Maggie. She is younger than him by 3 years, and one of the sweetest women I've ever met. Everyone loves her, and she treats all of us as if we were her own children. They are very happy together.

When it comes to Esme, the Hales, and Mr. McCarty, there's not much to tell. The last we heard of Esme, she was living in Paris with some artist. The Hales and Mr. McCarty still aren't on the best of terms with the rest of us, but they have at least attempted to fix things. It's going very slowly.

As for Edward and I, we are very happy. Edward finally finished his second novel after the twins were born. It was a sequel to his first one. He is currently working on a new story. My company is still doing well both in Seattle and Chicago. I still work, but not as much as I used to. I always make sure to spend as much time with my kids as I can.

All in all, life is wonderful. I have everything I could ever want. I have a family, a wonderful husband, great kids, lots of friends, and a job. What more could I possibly want?

And I have James and Edward to thank for all of that.

Because of them, my once broken heart, still beats.

The End.

**A/N: I know it wasn't as detailed as some of my other chapters, but I really wanted to get this finished once and for all. Aside from that, I think it turned out okay.**

**Thank you all again for reviewing, favoriting, and following this story. :)**


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